The golden monkey perched on the side of a historic Ballarat building has helped Ballarat International Foto Biennale visitors immerse themselves in the world of photography.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Lisa Roet's Golden Monkey, a 9m inflatable sculpture of an endangered Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, "opened up engagement and really provided an additional layer of access and excitement" to the 60-day biennale according to chief executive Vanessa Gerrans.
"I loved seeing the variety of responses to it," Ms Gerrans said.
Although the final breakdown of visitors to the BIFB, which ran from August 26 to October 22, has not yet been finalised Ms Gerrans said more than 30,000 visitors had been through exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Ballarat alone.
The BIFB's drawcard exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Ballarat including People Power - Platon featuring stunning portraits of 120 people who have changed the world, and Instant Warhol featuring Polaroid photographs from Andy Warhol, drew in thousands who then explored other indoor and outdoor exhibitions across Ballarat.
The gallery was one of more than 80 venues hosting BIFB exhibitions across the city.
Ms Gerrans said there had been strong visitor numbers from interstate and overseas, with thousands also coming up from Melbourne and other parts of Victoria.
"We had a volunteer telling us excitedly that when he was minding the Martin Kantor Portrait Prize exhibition, four visitors from Peru came in. They said they had come to Ballarat to see the festival and when he asked 'what did you come to Australia for?' they said they had actually come from Peru to see the biennale."
And she said local visitation continued to grow.
READ MORE:
"What I found intriguing is people in Ballarat and surrounds must have developed a knowledge and understanding and appreciation of photography through the 10 iterations of the festival, and they are now really engaged because they know about photography and understand it."
A "closing" party was held on the final weekend of the biennale, with the Open Program 2023 winners announced.
Stephen Hennessy's Retroactive Documents - Time is not a Line, which was displayed in the Hydrant Food Hall, was announced the winning exhibition of the Open Program while the People's Choice award went to Melbourne photographer Xiaolan Yao for her Memories of Childhood.
Sign-up for The Courier's news alerts direct to your inbox. Select Breaking News Alerts in My Newsletters & Alerts in your account preference centre.
