We are a gathering, collective caretaking, and knowledge-sharing space that hosts intimate programs and collaborations platforming creatives and entrepreneurs from migrant, diaspora, refugee and Indigenous communities, alongside other vital intersectionalities. Our activities come alive through workshops, talks, communal meals, test kitchens, dialogues, soirées, reading sessions, and more. We also run a reading room and online shop supporting social ventures, publishers, and artisans across Asia and Australia. We believe that co-nourishment and circular-learning plays an integral part in the lifelong cultivation of communal joy and equitable ecologies.
Established by arts & culture worker Mariam Ella Arcilla in April 2023, Magenta House is a synergetic platform for ideas and encounters to ferment. The project is voluntarily-run in a private residence that opens to the public during events and gatherings, and by appointment.
Mariam organises our programs, collaborations, shop, community engagement, and digital content. Artist & DJ Mason Kimber oversees home logistics and maintenance. We're soul-mates who live together and we run Magenta House on the ground level of the home. Our combined careers in hospitality, arts administration, event management, teaching, community service, and curating have informed Magenta’s germination. We refer to ourselves as Housekeepers because we seek to unfurl what it means to run Magenta as a public home through an artist-run lens; and how acts of service and shared belonging can contribute to the heartbeat of a dwelling.
As for the name? 'Magenta' is an iridescent tone that signifies universality, imagination, and non-conformity. This represents our unpinned practices and the prismatic nature of our amazing collaborators across art, food, design, literature, music and social sciences.
Together, we work under the many suns of gathering and knowledge-sharing. How we gather at Magenta is manifested through communal meals, supper clubs, pop-up exhibitions, coworking sessions, and neighbourhood soirees. And we exchange knowledge through culturally-vital workshops, test kitchens and recipe-sharing, book launches, dialogues, and e-commerce projects. Alongside this, we run a reading room and an online shop focusing on food cultures, heritage ventures, and experimental publishing from Asia and Australia.
Our collaborations are organised via invitation and open proposal. We pencil in weekly events and small gatherings in rhythm with our capacities and our collaborators' schedules. You can view some of our programs here. We're open to unique proposals and venue hires in 2025 and 2026 from individuals and collectives in Australia and internationally. Contact us on the deets below to get in touch!
Home-sized shout-out to our community of collaborators, fellow volunteers, participants, and shop customers for supporting our independent initiative. To learn more about how we housekeep, visit our FAQs page or Programs page. You can also read our profiles in Never Too Small profile and Liminal interview.