UnitePlayPerform invites you to join us for our 2026 Melbourne Design Week Program. Reclaim Transform Initiative: Hybrid Habitat Exhibition, curated by NGV, will be held at Abbotsford Convent from 14 - 24 May along side a full program of UPP Playshops, talks and events.
See all the upcoming events below.
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.
ABOUT ARTIST/DESIGN STUDIO :
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.