The Room of Lost Ideas

A modern salon

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Wild conversations in domestic spaces

So - welcome to The Room of Lost Ideas. We are a semi-regular parlour night hosted in a very ordinary private living room that hides in the Upper Yarra Valley. We are dedicated to the art of the deep dive. Think of it as a university lecture without being at university - intellectually rigorous, deeply researched, but with zero exam anxiety and much better drinks. Or maybe we’re a house concert without the band?

Once a month, one brave soul takes the floor to present a paper on a topic they find utterly fascinating, spanning the literary, the fantastic, or the deeply pragmatic. Whether delivered by a PhD breaking down their niche field or an amateur scholar sharing an unhinged 2 AM Wikipedia rabbit hole, our salon offers a deliberate pause for uninterrupted thought, listening and longer conversation.

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Why We Gather

In an era of fleeting social media feeds and transactional conversations, our salon offers a deliberate pause.

We gather to rescue brilliant, bizarre, and beautiful ideas from the margins of daily life and give them room to breathe. It’s our monthly antidote to small talk - a place to share uncompromised passions with a community that actually wants to hear the full story.

If you want to be part of the audience or you have a story and subject to share - please - email us.

How We Gather

We keep our circles intimate (it is in our home!), which means getting into the room requires a little bit of serendipity.

  • Join the List: Sign up for our mailing list below to get first access to our monthly ticket drops.

  • The Whisper Network: After the initial round, we rely almost entirely on word-of-mouth (and a quiet Instagram page).

  • The Golden Rule: If you join us, pass the spark along to someone you think is genuinely interested, interesting, and someone you’d love to share a glass of wine or sip a cup of tea with.

  • Show Up and Talk (or listen): Grab a drink, pull up a floor cushion or a mismatched chair. Come alone or as part of a group. You and your curious mind, are welcome.

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A monthly meeting of curious minds

  • We bridge the gap between formal scholarship and passionate hobbyism.

    Our floor welcomes PhD’s sharing high-level insights from their fields, alongside everyday enthusiasts sharing deeply researched personal obsessions. All we ask is that you care, possibly a little too much, about your topic.

  • Our evenings reject rigid themes. We might spend one month dissecting the complex economy of a fictional fantasy empire, and the next analyzing the psychological impact of 19th-century wallpaper - another week - the utter necessity of joy and beauty. If it’s of distracting interest to you, it belongs here.

  • By gathering in private homes and interesting spaces we have a limit on guests, so we’ll maintain a warm, low-stakes atmosphere. It is the perfect safe space for unpolished ideas, experimental thoughts, and sitting awkwardly on someone else's spare chairs and floor pillows hoping you don’t spill the wine (but don’t panic of you do).

  • The Room of Lost Ideas is an imaginarium, a storytelling sanctuary, and a testing ground for fresh thoughts. It is the one place where your incredibly niche hobby finally has a captive, willing audience—and thank goodness, it’s not your drunk Aunt at Christmas lunch.

    Because we are a space for true curiosity, we welcome the controversial, the experimental, and the unconventional. However, please know there is a distinct line between a provocative idea and a harmful one. We are strictly not a platform for hate speech, political advocacy, or ideological grandstanding. Come ready to explore, to question, and to play, but leave the culture wars and the malice at the door.

📬 Pitch a Rabbit Hole

Have a deeply researched obsession you want to share, or just want to introduce yourself? Drop us a line - we’re always looking for the next fascinating person to share a glass of wine or a cup of tea with.