Grace Mera Molisa
Grace Mera Molisa was a ni-Vanuatu politician, poet, and women’s rights advocate. She campaigned for equal rights for women in politics and was the first woman from Vanuatu to achieve a university degree. She is regarded as a vanguard for Melanesian culture and a voice of the ni-Vanuatu, especially women.
She founded Vanuatu Women in Politics, a group that helped women enter politics. She has published three volumes of poems which are described as biting social commentary on life in patriarchal, post-colonial Vanuatu.
I’ve lived in Vanuatu for 8 years and have been involved in many projects of art for social change where Grace Molisa’s influence and inspiration was always at the root. In the drawing I have surrounded her with women and girls of all ages and had them close their eyes together in a common dream for a peaceful future.