This paper examines the influence of contemporary art on collective memory in Port Vila, Vanuatu. In doing so, two key organisations are introduced – the Nawita Contemporary Arts Association and the Red Wave Vanuatu Arts Association. The establishment of each organisation is explained to contextualise the current socio-cultural environment in which artists work. The influence of kinship, island genealogy and aesthetic ideologies are explored as are gender relations and colonial heritage. By extension, the oeuvres of particularly active members from each association are presented, thus providing an overview of the themes and media that permeate spaces of shared public consciousness in the capital of the archipelago.