In the series “The coloniality of gender” Nunes examines and challenges the local gender disparities ingrained by an historical context of Dutch and Portuguese colonial rule. For research Nunes resided in 2023 and 2024 on São Tôme.

The processes of colonisation constituted asymmetries in social relationships and configured gender as an expression of inequality and concentration of power. Even after independence the echoes of colonization still permeates relationships and manifest itself in violence and inequalities, which in São Tomé are expressed in the authority given to men. Nunes was particularly struck by the gendered nature of children's play. While Santomean boys typically play together using self-made toys, girls are expected to assist their mothers with domestic chores. To challenge the colonial heritage of gender and empower Santomean children through the act of play she facilitated a project, O mundo imaginário, aimed at promoting space for mixed-gender playing and learning. For the residential project, Nunes collaborated with SOMA, an organization promoting gender equality and with children of the village of Santana.

In numerous drawings Nunes expresses the colonial heritage in the present reality of girls and women. In film, bronze and large scale oil paintings Nunes composes an alternative (future)vision. Nunes hits on the early shaping of values in the pre-formative phase of children and shows an installation of dreamlike visions of girls in typical boys activities, seemingly in their element. She shows minimalistic bronze figures and almost sketchy, monochromatic images that surface on large natural linen formats, as if appearing from a foggy future. The silent film fragments and the subdued, simple compositions with the monochromatic nude girls, lend an esoteric dimension to her visions.