WHAT'S ON

Celebrate Torres Strait Island culture this NAIDOC Week with a book reading by author Bernard Namok Jnr and interactive singing with Deb Lowah Clark. Ages 4-12 years.

Deb Lowah Clark guides a conversation with Bernard Namok Jnr about the story of the Torres Strait Islander Flag, which was designed by his father Bernard Namok Snr. Includes a screening of the short documentary film, ‘Carry the Flag’.

In 1998, Federation University commissioned Ken Searle to create a painting of Ballarat. He spent several months, at his preferred vantage point of Black Hill, capturing what he described as the "beating heart of the city". Join us for a conversation between Ken Searle and art historian, Dr Chris McAuliffe about the painting, ‘Ballarat’ (1998) and its powerful encapsulation of our city and the changing face of urban Australia.

This exhibition presents Ken Searle’s monumental painting, ‘Ballarat’ (1998) alongside an interactive digital representation of the work to allow for community-generated interpretation. This process seeks to draw on local knowledge, lived experience and personal memory.

Historian Jacqui Sanders and heritage expert Trevor Budge AM reveal the hidden lives of women and children on the Victorian Goldfields. They will share stories of mothers and children who shaped goldfields society and whose memories remain embedded in our historical cultural landscapes. Complimentary afternoon tea to follow.

A two-hour public workshop with Jonathan Butler that will teach you how to narrate the story of your family history.

Kick off the Ballarat Heritage Festival with local musicians Hap Hayward, Freya Josephine Hollick, and Phil and Trudy Edgeley, as they present a rollicking in-the-round performance of unsung folk songs from the Victorian Goldfields.

Join Diana Nguyen and Osamah Sami in conversation about their formative intercultural experiences, story writing processes, and how both have shaped their rich narrative worlds. A Ballarat Harmony Fest event presented by the Eureka Centre.

A public lecture by Dr Bronwyn Hughes OAM exploring Ballarat’s past through a selection of notable works in stained glass.