Presented by UnitePlayPerform, and conceptualised, designed, and produced by Melissa Gilbert, the Reclaim and Transform Initiative marks the first three steps in an ongoing journey toward the Symbiocene – a paradigm where design shifts from extraction toward interdependence, reciprocity, and living systems.

This work begins with Unity Web, a four metre large-scale, hand-woven installation using natural raffia fibres, developed in collaboration with First Nations weavers and community participants. First seeded at the Purpose Conference at Carriageworks, the work centres collective making, cultural knowledge, and material intimacy inviting a slowing into rhythm, touch, and connection. Here, materials are not passive, but active collaborators holding memory, gesture, and relational exchange.

The next phase unfolds through the Elemental Sigils series where four freestanding sculptures merge weaving logic with closed-loop material systems. In collaboration with Defy Design, reclaimed plastics are transformed into modular components, forming a platform for continual reconfiguration. These works operate as both symbolic markers and material systems bridging hand-process, cultural language, and material innovation.

The journey culminates in the Hybrid Habitat Series: Chrysalis – Belonging – an immersive, inhabitable soft infrastructure integrating reclaimed and abandoned festival materials, alongside zero-waste knitting innovations developed in partnership with KNOVUS, and structural frameworks created with Defy Design. The work is further activated by original soundscapes by Gilbert, designed to create subtle reverberations throughout the space.

Designed to restore and regulate the body, the Chrysalis supports co-regulation between human and object through embedded reverberation pads and healing frequencies that move through the structure. Activated through participatory invitations and provocations, the Hybrid Habitat becomes a living field where audiences are invited to touch, dwell, listen, and respond. Part sculpture, part shelter, the Chrysalis operates as a threshold space, the Hybrid Habitat holding the tension between dissolution and emergence.

Participants

Melissa Gilbert
Described by Australian Design Review as “an exemplar of socially engaging art,” and recognised for “excelling in producing socially engaging work,” Melissa Gilbert is known as a “cultural disruptor” (Broadsheet) and was selected for NGV’s Melbourne Design Fair – Discovery, spotlighting the next generation of design leaders. She is the Founder of UnitePlayPerform, a living intelligence studio activating embodied systems change, and co-founder of The Nest Creative Space, Australia’s largest grassroots creative production studio community. Her work has been exhibited at the Carriage Works, Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Rockhampton Museum of Art, the Museum of Brisbane, and MONA, VIVID, Museum of Old and New Art, alongside international exhibitions. Her work has been featured in Vogue and highlighted by ArtsHub as one of the top exhibitions at the Museum of Brisbane for Play Moves. Gilbert is also a keynote speaker and has partnered with Purpose Conference and Adapt NSW as Creative & Wellbeing Partner, and serves as an advisor to the Symbiocene Institute. She is a scholarship recipient of the Masters of Business & Empathy (MBE) at Small Giants Academy, as well as the International Impact Safari, supporting her global leadership in relational culture, systems change, and embodied practice.

KNOVUS - UPP Partner
Patricia Chircop is founder and director of Knovus, a Melbourne-based studio specialising in knit innovation, advanced manufacturing, and technical education. With over 15 years of experience across circular, flatbed, and seamless knitwear, she has built a practice that bridges design, programming, and production. As both a designer and knit programmer, Patricia works in the space between material thinking and manufacturing systems, with a particular focus on the future of localised, technology-led production. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Technology Sydney, researching hyperlocal manufacturing through advanced 3D knitting technologies. Through Knovus, she works with industry and research partners to push knit beyond conventional fashion outcomes and into new design and production contexts.

DEFY - UPP Partner
Defy is Sydney-based company that specialise in designing and manufacturing impactful products made from plastic destined for landfill. We are a passionate team of designers and innovators dedicated to improving the environment through action, rather than words. Our design-led approach to solving complex problems of our past places us at the forefront of the movement to close the loop of our plastic waste streams in Australia.

Unity Web
Unity Web was a four-metre First Nations weaving legacy project at seeded Purpose Conference 2023. Crafted from natural fibres and archetypal colours, and accompanied by audio storytelling from First Nations weavers, the installation invited 1000+ delegates, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to practise deep listening, yarn, weave, and contribute intentions to a collective field. Transforming Carriageworks’ prestigious foyer, Unity Web became a living architecture of legacy, interconnectedness, and cultural repair. This work was proudly supported by City of Sydney.

At Purpose 2023, the new work Unity Web, launched as a collective legacy artwork made by First Nations weavers from across ‘So called Australia’. The artists/weavers included:

Karleen Green - Bunjalung, Mununjali, Kgari (Wonapinga Weaving)

Tegan Murdock - Barkindtji, Yorta Yorta (Ngumpie Weaving)

Amethyst Downing-McLeod - Wandi Wandian (Ngardi Amethyst Design)

Terase Kelly - Mirning, Kokatha, Kaurna, Narrunga (Minyamumma Weaving)

Nana Coral Foley - Boorloo, Ballardong/Whadjuk, Noongar, living in Boorloo Noongar Boodja (Culture Weave)

Nadine Foley - Boorloo, Ballardong/Whadjuk, Noongar, living in Boorloo Noongar Boodja (Culture Weave)

Kym Dobby - Wiilman Noongar, Boorloo/Perth

Melissa Gilbert - Descendant of the Mununjali Clan/Yugambeh with links to Quandamooka.

Unity Web harnesses the method and medicine of weaving circles globally and throughout time, creating a vital, embodied and organic space for people to connect, learn and share. In the context of Purpose Conference's hard truths, Unity Web is a space for healing.

This work is a legacy carrying on to be exhibited and activated with First Nations weavers facilitation. Unity Web was conceptualised, curated and facilitated by Melissa Gilbert.

ACCESS

Accessible bathroom
All gender bathroom
Assistance animals welcome
Audio described
Low sensory / relaxed
Seating available
Wheelchair accessible

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