After Dark: Portraits of Survival

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