Colours the goldfields will shine in Sovereign Hill's school holiday workshop

School holiday Colour Revolution workshops at Sovereign Hill will highlight how use of colour changed during the gold-rush era and delve in to historic techniques and crafts.

"The focus is around colour and how colour has actually changed our world," said Sovereign Hill head of learning Sofia Fiusco.

"We often see the past represented in black and white but the 19^th century marked an explosion of colour and how we mass produce colour, the arrival of synthetic dyes and what that means in the way we change colour."

The three-hour workshops will see participants visit several different sites around Sovereign Hill and explore how colour processes changed the glow of the goldfields through hands-on activities including patterns, eco-dying, cyanotypes, printing and kitchen lithography.

"In laboratories, studios and workshops people were playing with, wearing and living in colour in new ways," Ms Fiusco said. "The Industrial Revolution transformed the processes and materials available. Textile mills were one of the first industries to industrialise, powering their spinning wheels and looms with steam engines.

"By the 1860s roller printing allowed textiles to be printed with up to eight colours and we fast forward to today and consider all the colours we have available to us which creates an immersive space."

The workshops are aimed at children aged 10 to 15, with participants taking home treasures made during their time at Sovereign Hill, and materials to enable them to practice some of the techniques they have learned.

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Ms Fiusco said the workshops were something different to the usual offerings.

"Often students of that age have been to Sovereign Hill before but this way they get to learn more about techniques and history and understand its influence on what we have available to us - they get to see Sovereign Hill very differently."

Fun on the diggings and activations throughout Sovereign Hill during the school holidays,will bring even more life to the goldrush town on the hill, and the colour will continue in to the evening throughout the school holidays with thousands of lights transforming Sovereign Hill in to an illuminated wonderland in Winter Wonderlights, part of the Ballarat Winter Festival.

Colour Revolution workshops will be held on Thursday July 1 and Tuesday July 6 at 10am and cost $40. There are eight spaces per program. Bookings are essential. Tickets do not include entry to Sovereign Hill.

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