Nostos Salon 12

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 and community.

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 witchcraft and everyday rituals of resistance

Our Nostos gathering on the 25th of October (our halloween special) will explore the anthropology of witchcraft, ritual, and resistance, examining how everyday spiritual practices, the small acts of ceremony, gathering, and defiance woven into ordinary life, are quietly reshaping how contemporary Australians confront power, gender, and belonging. In an era marked by a renewed cultural embrace of witchcraft, growing feminist scrutiny of patriarchal structures, and mounting anxiety about identity, agency, and community, this conversation invites us to reflect on how resistance is imagined, and whose practices get to count as political.

Through the lens of anthropology, feminist theory, and interdisciplinary research into embodied practice, we’ll explore how people actually live with ritual, magic, and community, and how ethnographies grounded in real lives can challenge assumptions about what counts as serious spiritual or political work. How does watching the way people gather, cast, journal, and mark their days reveal something that dominant frameworks alone cannot? What does it mean to take witchcraft seriously as a form of feminist resistance rather than as fringe curiosity? Whose everyday practices are treated as sacred or subversive, and whose are dismissed as trivial? And how might grounded, people-centred research help us understand the political power of ritual in contemporary life?

We are delighted to welcome Dr Emma Quilty, feminist anthropologist, practising witch, and Research Fellow at Monash University’s Centre for Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Her research foregrounds embodied, feminist, and sensory ethnographic methods to examine how gender, power, and technology shape everyday life, currently through work on algorithmic harm, technology-facilitated violence, and the politics of ritual. Her recent book, Witch Power: Hexing the Patriarchy with Feminist Magic (Polity Books, 2025), draws on immersive fieldwork with witchcraft communities in Australia and the United States, tracing how contemporary witches use ritual, hexing, and community to confront patriarchal structures, reclaim agency, and imagine other ways of being. You can learn more about her work at.

This afternoon salon invites participants into an open and engaging dialogue about how ritual, resistance, and everyday defiance shape the political and spiritual lives we lead. Together, we’ll explore how anthropology and the social sciences can sharpen our understanding of witchcraft, gender, and power, and how more people-centred, grounded approaches might help us take seriously the everyday practices through which people build meaning, resistance, and community.

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

The ticket price covers attendance at the salon discussion. Light refreshments will be available during the salon, and a small amount of wine may occasionally be offered as complimentary hospitality. Thank you to our event sponsors NOW and NON.

Please indicate your dietary requirements at booking. See below for frequently asked questions.