I first worked with Esther in 2004 when she initiated a workshop [Philosophy as Public Art] that I led as part of the Splint project. That early gesture of belief and encouragement has stayed with me. Over the years she has continued to act as a generous advocate for independent practitioners across all forms. Esther has an uncommon ability to create spaces where artists can speak honestly about doubt, ambition and responsibility, and where those conversations are held with intelligence and care. When Esther hosts an event, she offers the sector an opportunity to collectively take a deep breath, to gather, focus and recalibrate. Her leadership has quietly shaped the ecology of contemporary arts culture in Australia by opening numerous contexts for rigorous exchange and meaningful public engagement. I support her work wholeheartedly and with real gratitude.
JASON MALING is a Naarm-based artist working across participatory performance, sculpture and social practice. For over 25 years he has created projects that explore play, agency and the art of invitation, designing situations where people gather, reflect and generate meaning together. His work unfolds through long-term collaboration and experimentation: a process of developing new systems of relation between people, objects and places.
As space for sustained collective inquiry narrows, Esther Anatolitis creates the conditions for the field to read itself without collapse. She convenes open and invitational social forums where artists can take intelligent risks, share and compare ideas, and receive honest, situation-specific feedback. Across contexts, this work strengthens practice-led communities to reposition themselves within the shifting values and urgencies of our time. What emerges is not a fixed stance but an ongoing capacity to adapt. What is critical now is financial investment to restore this ecology of creativity. As Public Assembly, we strongly support Esther’s ongoing work and recognise its impact as an altered condition: artists more attuned to their own terms, more resourced in relation, and better able to hold complexity without retreat. Esther does not resolve the questions; she keeps them in play.
Established in 2007, PUBLIC ASSEMBLY is the creative collaboration between Lynda Roberts, Ceri Hann and a dynamic, everchanging community. Acting as playful provocateurs, this creative duo aim to stimulate conversation and disrupt our expectations of the objects, spaces and systems around us. They work towards this by devising site specific participatory workshops and installations that venture out into the public realm. Often working with and within civic and educational systems, their socially driven practice acts as a live laboratory, generating ideas through action.
I am writing to recount that my experience of participating in Independent Convergence at MPavilion was a very warm one. I remember I went into it not really knowing what to expect, but came away feeling like it was very inspiring and invigorating to connect with other creatives and share perspectives on our different fields. Guided by Esther’s open and expert facilitation, we felt safe and comfortable sharing our experiences and goals. Often practising for days on end in isolation, we often forget how to talk, let alone articulate our practice and this type of connection and conversation is something many of us artists crave. Sometimes it is just what we really need to help us take big, new, brave steps in the right direction.
TAI SNAITH is a visual artist living and working in Naarm, Melbourne. Tai’s work investigates the nature of visual storytelling, viewpoints and personal histories. She works across a broad range of mediums, including painting, sculpture, spoken conversations and large public realm commissions. Her recent series of oil paintings investigates the nexus of etymology of words and symbology found in surreal imagery presented at Nicholas Thompson gallery in November 2025. Tai’s works and commissions are held in numerous public and private collections, including Artbank, NGA, Bayside, Great Victorian Rail Trail and the State Library of Victoria. Tai has also written and illustrated 7 picture books published with Thames and Hudson Australia, shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards in London, and the winner of the Banyule Works on Paper prize. In addition to her visual practice, Tai has conducted 2 seasons of recorded conversations with female-identifying and non-binary artists (originally commissioned by ACCA) under the project title of A World of One’s Own which are available on Apple podcasts.
Since first meeting at Emerging Writers’ Festival in 2011, Esther has been a constant bright light in my writing practice. As a French migrant to Australia, and a writer navigating a shift in culture and language, she has been a deep inspiration, supporter, and mentor. When I organised a China-Australia festival of digital literature, I invited her to host a bilingual panel exploring cross-reflections on writing, thinking, translating, culture building and technological mediation. It was praised by listeners and attendees as one of the rare insightful, human discussions across cultures they experienced – to no small degree owing to Esther’s skills as a chair and host. My warmest memory of her practice goes back to an open event that Esther curated and hosted at MPavilion for artistic practitioners [Independent Convergence and later, Vertical Horizons]. At the time, I was working on a community arts project involving international students from China. I was deeply moved to witness how newcomers with poor command of English were able to join a space with established and emerging artists and arts workers from across Victoria. In these and many other instances, I have seen Esther curate truly inclusive spaces that – largely for that reason – invite fresh nurturing perspectives, all with grace and intelligence. For someone like me, whose work does not fit neatly in any category, bridging philosophy, community building, NGOs and community arts, she curates some of the rare spaces where I have found a sense of belonging, offering precious opportunity to crystallise thought and experience much needed connection. I would jump eagerly at any opportunity to attend anything Esther facilitates, or collaborate with her on any project in any manner.
DR JULIEN LEYRE is a French Australian writer, philosopher, editor and facilitator. He helps people find personal and professional clarity as they engage with the complex challenges of the 21st century. His writing on virtue ethics, Solarpunk, global catastrophic risk and queer experiences has been published in France, China, Bangladesh, Sweden and Australia. He currently works as in-house writer for the World Ethic Forum, an NGO exploring the preconditions for a world of radically shared aliveness; serves as president of Shapeshifters Group Inc, an association that aims to give voice and visibility to the people who do ‘the work in-between’ in organisations and ecosystems; and co-founded the Future Governance Agency, a boutique agency demystifying and expanding the 21st century toolkit for statecraft and collective decision-making. Julien spent most the 2010s engaging with China/Asia and exploring the multicultural internet – for which he was listed on the Victorian Multicultural Honours List, and awarded the title of New Australian of the Year in 2017. He likes to listen and look for common ground.
Esther is an outstanding champion of artists and their voices, and has a well-honed skill of bringing them together. She knows how to connect people who can speak to each other’s work – and to the moment – and is able to create forums for doing that. Being able to see myself included in a group of artists – in regional Victoria, Melbourne and Perth – and to experience discussions about artistic practice and deep creative ideas, was crucial for my confidence. And to have someone like Esther astutely place my work in conversation with others has always helped me as an artist, guiding how I respond to audiences’ perspectives on my work and on art in general. Which in turn becomes a more confident relationship between artist and audience: a self-actualising, positive momentum in itself. Esther always has thrilling, bold and interesting ways to elevate Australian artistic practice.
LAUREN BROWN is a writer who has formerly practised as a performance and installation artist. She writes fiction that grapples with history and features ambivalent protagonists. Born in Naarm/Melbourne and now based at Cambridge, Lauren holds a BFA from the National Art School, a diploma in journalism from the National Council for the Training of Journalists, and an MA on art in the public space. Lauren’s short fiction appears in the speculative autobiography anthology Disturbing the Body, published by Boudicca Press. She has written extensively for major and independent arts publications with a focus on arts and cultural commentary and critique. Lauren’s work is held in both private and public collections, and her first book was a finalist in the Bath Novel Award.
