The Biennale of Australian Art begins tonight with a free party open to the public, followed by six weeks of exhibitions and installations around the city: in our historic art houses, in venues rarely entered by the general public, and around Lake Wendouree.
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The biennale, known by its acronym BOAA, is an historic event long in gestation.
BOAA director Julie Collins says the workload has been hectic as the opening night and weekend closes in.
“There’s been a full team of us working into the night, about 15 people working, getting walls built, getting things installed and assisting artists. It’s been quite an operation,” she says.
The biennale is the end product of years of planning by Collins and her partner Derek Johns. They have employed local staff and have worked with Ballarat businesses and real estate agents to secure sponsorship and venues across the city.
Venues that have never been utilised before as art spaces have been brought into the public arena for the first time, such as the massive 10,000 square metres of the Eureka Street George farmer building, a former bacon and meat processing factory; and the imposing interior of St Andrew’s Kirk on Sturt Street.
At the same time the shores of Lake Wendouree have been made home to 35 installations and sculptures by some of Australia’s leading practitioners, including Bruce Armstrong, Sally Kidall and the Tjanpi Desert Weavers, representing more than 400 Aboriginal women artists from 26 remote communities in the Northern Territory.
“This is a significant moment in Ballarat’s history,” says Collins.
“We’re putting ourselves forward as being a very important cultural capital. This is the largest showcase of living Australian artists ever presented, and that’s a fantastic coup for Ballarat.”
“It’s the perfect town for this; it has perfect gardens, intact heritage buildings and a lot of possibilities.”
Collins says the feedback from businesses and services in the city has also been positive.
“There’s definitely excitement out there,” she says.
“A person who works in a vintage clothing shop told me she had sold three outfits to artists for the opening of BOAA.”
The Biennale of Australian Art (BOAA) opens tomorrow night at the Mining Exchange and continues in venues across the city and at Lake Wendouree. More information at boaa.net.au
