National Centre for Photography

[1] After the purchase in April 2018 of its premises for $1.3 million by the Ballarat International Foto Biennale and already functioning for its 2019 season 24 August – 20 October,[2][3] the National Centre for Photography hosted the group exhibition Capital in the chambers of 1860s Union Bank on Lydiard Street.

[4] Space on the second floor, occupied for the last 50 years by an accounting firm, was the site of Incremental Loss, Robbie Rowlands' ambitious deconstruction of the interior, commissioned by BFB to celebrate the conversion of the building to its new purpose.

[5][6] The top floor was devoted to Stock Market, Mathieu Asselin's documentation of the growth of the global biotechnology corporation Monsanto, manufacturer of insecticides and genetically engineered seeds.

[9] Heritage advisors Lovell Chen oversaw the removal of the 1970s fit-out which was carried out by BIFB-commissioned artist-in-residence Robbie Rowlands starting in February 2019;[21] a process in which he peeled back walls, chain-sawed ceilings and floors and sliced up fixed furniture, documenting the progress as the artwork Incremental Loss and displayed as large-format photographs in the 2019 Biennale.

The Centre houses multifunctional spaces, including four galleries, for major temporary exhibitions by local, domestic and international artists; educational workshop spaces and a black-and-white darkroom; an artist-in-residence program and opportunities for community artists to exhibit; a stockroom housing BIFB’s permanent collections, including the Martin Kantor Portrait Prize and a photobook library; and a rooftop bar.

Fred Kruger , Lydiard Street with the Union Bank on right, looking south from Sturt Street, Ballarat, 1871, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Gift of Mrs Beryl M. Curl, 1979.
Union Bank of Australia, Ballarat, Victoria c1870, from the Richard Ledgar collection of photographs, 1858-1910, National Library of Australia