National Centre for Photography

The National Centre for Photography, sited in the regional city of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia exhibits, promotes, archives and provides education in photography.

History

Already functioning 24 August – 20 October 2019 during the Ballarat International Foto Biennale, the Centre hosted Nicholas Mangan’s Limits to Growth, curated by Naomi Cass and Gareth Syvret and part of the exhibition Capital in the former Union Bank, considered an appropriate venue for the use of photography to examine systems of value and exchange in contemporary Indigenous and settler cultures.

In November 2020, the Andrews Labor Government announced the establishment of a National Centre for Photography in Ballarat following on the success of the Biennale held in the city since 2009 which led to the purchase by the Biennale organisation of the 1860s heritage-listed Union Bank building on Lydiard Street, consolidating an arts precinct around the Ballarat Art Gallery, the visual art studios of Federation University, and the Post Office Gallery.

$6.7 million from the Victorian Budget 2020/21 was allocated to create the new centre to attract visitors, support jobs and strengthen the city’s cultural standing, and is predicted to generate $75.7 million in economic benefit across the next 15 years from visitors and associated tourism.

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula confirmed the contribution of the Biennale to the feasibility of the Centre; “The Ballarat International Foto Biennale is one of Victoria’s iconic regional events and the National Centre for Photography will allow it to contribute to Ballarat’s economy and jobs strength year-round.” Artistic director of the biennale, Fiona Sweet, who with other organisers lobbied for two years for support, remarked that: “This money is a real investment in culture – it directly supports the arts in regional Victoria and will no doubt generate significant visitation to Ballarat.”

The founding of the National Centre coincided with the closure after 47 years of the Australian Centre for Photography in Sydney, which was suffering a loss of government funding, falling visitation due to COVID, and an unsustainable defecit from its educational workshops.

The Centre

Fred Kruger, Lydiard Street with the Union Bank on right, looking south from Sturt Street, Ballarat, 1871, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Gift of Mrs Beryl M. Curl, 1979.

The centre houses multifunctional spaces, including four galleries, for major temporary exhibitions by local, domestic and international artists, and will provide educational workshop spaces and an artist-in-residence program and opportunities for community artists to exhibit. Its activities are supported by its archive and photobook library and a rooftop bar.

The bulk of the budget allocated by the Victorian government has enabled renovation of the gold-rush era Union Bank Building, purchased by the BIFB in 2018. Plans also incorporate a digital 3D "immersive" gallery that will be open daily.