VALENTINE’s Day this weekend in Ballarat will be much more interesting than your standard red-roses-and-bottle-of-bubbly fare.
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City of Ballarat Public Art Coordinator Julie Collins must have been struck by the cupid of romantic inspiration, as she will be curating a Festival of Love across the city, starting this Friday.
The festival will feature romantic art spread across Ballarat’s public art venues – the mobile shipping container CONTAINart, Unicorn Lane Gallery and Police Lane Aerial Gallery.
The amorous art will be half curated from existing galleries and half created new in response to dedications sent in by the Ballarat community.
A highlight will be love dedications, sonnets and odes splashed across the Ballarat Town Hall this Saturday and Sunday night.
“The idea came from a request that came into council that someone wanted to project their proposal (on the Town Hall) to their girlfriend, and we couldn’t let that happen because that would open a Pandora’s Box of everyone wanting to do,” Ms Collins said.
“But I had had this idea of a festival of love, so when this conversation came up i said let’s give people that avenue to create words and poems and we’ll project them onto the Town Hall.”
Ms Collins, who is also a sculptor who creates incredible pieces with her steel fabricator husband, said she wanted to see more romance in Ballarat.
“I’m happily married, got three children, but yes I like a bit of romance, I like nice restaurants and beautiful bottles of wine and flowers,” she said.
“I just think that so many things go wrong in the world that I think it’s nice to stop and celebrate love and celebrate the happiness.”
She said it was becoming rarer for artists to be inspired by the theme of love.
“In art we’re often creating works about the big issues – asylum seekers, climate change, about the politics of things – the problem is we sometimes forget about those simple beautiful things,” she said.
“When I did a quick Google search of love-inspired artworks, it was all the old Renaissance stuff. And these days, when artists talk about love, and in songs, its about how love’s gone wrong.
“Let’s think about the good things.”
Featured artists will include Indigenous street artist Josh Muir, visual artist Pauline O'Shannessy-Dowling, ceramic sculptor Kate Vivian and sculptor Tas Wansbrough.
To have your love dedication projected on the Ballarat Town Hall or used as inspiration for an artist’s work, email juliecollins@ballarat.vic.gov.au
