Join us for an after dark tour of ‘Portraits of Survival’.

This series of intimate portraits by Anita Lester honours 16 Holocaust survivors from Melbourne, whose lives were rebuilt through family, community and culture. Through these paintings, their faces and stories embody resilience, vitality, and the ongoing responsibility to remember. This exhibition invites visitors to encounter these survivors not just as subjects of history, but living witnesses.

Anita Lester is a Melbourne-based multidisciplinary artist working across painting, film, and music. Her practice has been presented internationally in galleries, festivals, and publications. With a background in illustration and composition, she develops projects that merge visual storytelling with cultural and poetic narratives, exploring themes of myth and memory.

An exhibition by Anita Lester in partnership with the Melbourne Holocaust Museum

EXHIBITION PRODUCED BY

THIS EXHIBITION WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH SINCERE APPRECIATION TO OUR PARTNERS

WITH HEARTFELT THANKS TO THE SURVIVORS AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR SHARING THEIR STORIES

Nina Bassat AM
Thomas (Tommy) Moses Beck
Ester Braitberg
Sonja Cowan
Wolf Deane
Elka Ekstein
Sally Felzen
Abram Goldberg OAM
Dita Gould
Ken Hamer
Berni Hamersfeld
Luba Olenski
Alex (Sany) Heimler
Vivienne Spiegel
Magda Steiner
Celina Widawski

MELBOURNE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM TEAM

Ellen Bradley
Dr Steve Cooke
Dr Breann Fallon
Dr Daniel Haumschild
Alice McInnes
Tegan Thompson
CompNow
Space Arrangers
Studio Tweed
Synthesis Design+Build

ANITA LESTER TEAM

Ben Gibson and Skye Jefferys at Gallery Jones
Goldberg Family
Dena Lester
James McPherson
Melbourne Studio of Art
Gideon Preiss
Alan and Sandra Preiss