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From its earliest day Ballarat has sought to encourage participation in and appreciation of the arts and music.
From the fabulous Art Gallery to the many disciplines of Royal South Street, from the early sinuous performances of Lola Montez to the more family friendly offerings of Her Majesty’s Theatre today, Ballarat has sought to build on the early desires of the city’s founders to be “The Athens of the South”.
There are magnificent sculptures in the Botanic Gardens and scattered around the city. Bands such The Mavis’s and The Dead Salesmen have taken the Ballarat sound to the cities of Australia and beyond.
We have novelists such as Peter Temple and poets like Nathan Curnow; artists from Norman Lindsay to Deborah Klein; filmmakers like Erin McCuskey and photographers as accomplished as Michelle Dunn.
Our Foto Biennale is world-renowned, and a new Biennale of Australian Art will open next year. We’ve hosted a wildly successful White Night, and galleries such as the Post Office and others are host to cutting edge exhibitions such as the Guirguis New Art Prize.
And of course we’ve hosted the Archibald Prize winners more than a few times.