The Future is Now

When we launched Stella magazine in August 2012, we thought we had connected to the future for women in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific. We pushed forward to find stand-out women and men in our community, the region, and the diaspora, who were not getting the attention we thought they deserved.

Now into our fourth year, we are still struggling with equal rights for women in our Pacific communities. We continue to put our Pacific identities in our back pockets in the name of development. We tend to focus on problems and not solutions. Sometimes it’s easy to throw our hands up and think that things going downhill cannot be stopped. 

But they can, and right now. This issue we are inspired by the passion and drive of Diane Kambanei, the Executive Director of the YWCA in Papua New Guinea, who manages a range of crucial projects for marginalised youth and women in PNG.

We’re rapt about the skill and extent of Pacific designers creating collections for a growing number of fashion shows that are protesting stereotypes and celebrating culture, including our annual RUNWAY event and Sydney’s Pacific Runway Fashion Show.

We’re hearing from artistic activists in Guahan (Guam) and climate activists in the Marshall Islands, who see value in our indigenous heritage and knowledge, which can be applied to restore balance in the environment.

And this issue you’ll be excited by plenty of artistic ventures in fashion, photography, colouring books, old-school connectivity, and wedding parties.

As always, we love to hear from you and hope you enjoy this issue of Stella!

xx Amanda and the Stella team

STELLA HAS GONE DIGITAL TOO

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