Nostos Salon 06

An engaging salon event at the beautiful Smith Street Studio for thoughtful conversation over shared seasonal food and curated wines.

Nostos is an intimate afternoon salon series by Anthrōprospective at Smith Street Studio in Collingwood, inner Melbourne. Inspired by the ancient Greek concept of nostos [νόστος]—a longing to return home, this gathering invites us back: to community, to place, to self, and to one another. In a time of disconnection, Nostos is a return to slow, thoughtful conversation shared over a warm meal.

How do I get to Smith Street Studio?

The entrance to the studio is off Little Oxford St, Collingwood – via a small lane between 77 and 79 Little Oxford. Head up the end of the lane and you will find the studio on the far left directly next door to Studio Pancho.

Theme: The Anthropology of Care, Relationships and Embodiment

Our upcoming Nostos gathering turns its attention to the intimate and often invisible work of care. In a world that prizes independence and productivity, care is frequently relegated to the private sphere or framed as burden rather than relational practice. This conversation invites us to reconsider care as a deeply human, embodied, and social phenomenon and one that shapes who we are, how we relate, and how we live together.

Through the lens of anthropology, we’ll explore how practices of care give rise to particular modes of relationality across family life, support services, and experiences of disability and loss. What does it mean to care with and through the body? How do moral commitments, emotional labour, and everyday routines reshape identities, including ideas of gender, masculinity, and responsibility? And how might close, ethnographic attention to lived experience challenge dominant narratives about dependency, autonomy, and worth?

We are delighted to welcome Aaron J. Jackson, Lecturer in Anthropology at Monash University. Aaron’s work sits at the intersection of care, embodiment, and cognitive disability, drawing on rich qualitative methods including ethnography, life history, and narrative analysis. He is the author of Worlds of Care (University of California Press, 2021), an ethnographic monograph examining the moral and emotional lives of fathers raising children with cognitive disabilities in the United States. His research contributes to leading debates in care theory and the anthropology of disability, and he has been involved in longitudinal research on disability support accommodation and rights-based initiatives such as My Rights Matter.

This afternoon salon invites participants into an open, reflective dialogue about how care circulates through bodies, relationships, and institutions. Together, we’ll explore how attending to care, in all its complexity, vulnerability, and creativity might deepen our understanding of interdependence and reimagine the ethical foundations of collective life.

Whether you’re curious about anthropology, seeking connection with new friends over good food and drinks, or simply drawn to deep conversation, Nostos offers a place at the table. Come as you are - all are welcome.

Ticket price includes light refreshments and generous servings of wine or non-alcoholic drinks kindly provided by our event sponsors Natural Order Wines and NON. Please indicate your dietary requirements at booking. See below for frequently asked questions.