Whether you’re visiting for one day or three, the 2021 Ballarat International Foto Biennale team has the complete itinerary for your trip.

These curated itineraries allow you to not only discover the best of the festival, but also help you to see this fantastic city anew.

Open to regional Victorians from 15 September, the popular photography festival has been extended until 9 January 2022.

Two-day itinerary

12pm: Arrive at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, 40 Lydiard Street North

Visit the Linda McCartney: Retrospective featuring more than 200 extraordinary photographs including images of the McCartney family, the 1960s music scene, and a series of prints from the McCartney’s tours to Australia between 1975 and 1993 which have never been shown before.

1pm: Lunch

Enjoy a delicious light lunch at lunch at a venue of your choice from the Open Program exhibition venues, for example, The George Hotel, Meigas and The Forge Pizzeria are all nearby.

2pm: Walk to the Ballarat Mining Exchange, 12 Lydiard Street North

We will all eventually return to the earth interrogates notions of colonisation, authorship, ownership and cultural legacy.

Raining Embers examines the global climate crisis through the lens of four photographers that captured the 2020 Australian bushfires.

2.45pm The Fineman New Photography Award at the Post Office Gallery, corner Sturt and Lydiard Street North

Six finalists were chosen by an international jury of leading curators and gallery directors, and provided with a unique exhibition opportunity as part of The Fineman New Photography Award.

Exhibiting finalists are Pierfrancesco Celada [HKG], Michelle Chan [HKG] Aakriti Chandervanshi [IND], Liss Fenwick [AUS], JinQin Luo [CHN] and Moe Suzuki [JPN].

Judges will award the first prize of $10,000 to an overall winner, with an additional prize of $1000 awarded for the People’s Choice Award, as voted by the public throughout the exhibition period.

This award is proudly supported by Alane Fineman.

3pm Walk to The National Centre For Photography, 4 Lydiard Street South

Styx by Alix Marie delves into her interest in water deities, and the intersection between the body and its representation.

Notes from a Queer Mystic‘s Steven Arnold was a quintessential icon who captured the world of glamour, camp, celebrity and creativity.

Chow and Lin: The Poverty Line uses the universal lens of food to examine the daily choices faced by those living the poverty line.

3.30pm: Martin Kantor Portrait Prize, Town Hall Ballarat, A Hall, 225 Sturt Street

The Martin Kantor Portrait Prize is generously supported by the Dara Foundation.

Named in honour of the late portrait photographer Martin Kantor, the acquisitive first prize of $15,000 is awarded to the work judged to be an exceptional portrait of a significant Australian acclaimed or recognised within their field, including art, letters, science, sport or politics.

This exhibition will present the award winner and finalists, and the $1000 People’s Choice Award will be awarded as voted by the public.

Explore the Core Program (Outdoor) by strolling through the heritage streets of Ballarat at your own pace (you will see these as you walk from gallery to gallery).

4.30pm: Check in to your accommodation venue to unpack and change for dinner

5.30pm: Ballarat Town Hall, 225 Sturt Street

Experience Projections After Dark on the Town Hall Exterior and illuminated exhibition The World is 9 by Aida Muluneh in the Sturt Street median.

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DAY TWO

9am: Breakfast at your accommodation venue or nearby local cafe

10.15am: Dibalik, 29 Main Road

This exhibition examines the voices and unspoken stories of Indonesian women which are often expressed indirectly, privately and behind closed doors.

Dibalik explores the experiences of feminism in Indonesia with its longstanding history spurred by political revolution and decolonisation.

10.45am: Mass Isolation, Bridge Mall

Curated by Shaohui Kwok and Amelia Sward, Mass Isolation reflects upon a unique period in our history, inviting viewers to find lightness and shared humanity in our experiences of isolation.

11.15am: Number One | Gudinski, Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute Basement, 117-119 Sturt Street

In celebration of the late Michael Gudinski, the godfather of Aussie music, the worlds of photography and music come together in Number One | Gudinski.

Through an Open Call, music photographers were invited to submit photographs featuring artists under the Mushroom Group and Frontier Touring banner and celebrates Michael’s legendary passion for music, his advocacy for the arts and lasting impact.

12pm: Enjoy a delicious light lunch at lunch at a venue of your choice from one of the nearby Open Program exhibition venues

1.15pm: In Translation, Ballarat GovHub, entry via Armstrong Street North

In Translation features four leading contemporary photographers whose careers have taken them across borders to some of the most unique public, and private spaces where they translate, narrate and showcase the language of architecture and the built environment.

Explore the Core Program Outdoor by strolling through the heritage streets of Ballarat at your own pace (you will see these as you walk from gallery to gallery). Be guided by the yellow footpath decals and Patrick Pound’s exhibitions The Photographer’s Shadow and The Followers across a trail of enlarged found photographs posted along the footpaths of Ballarat.

1.45pm: Drive or take public transport to the Ballarat General Cemetery, 1201 Lydiard Street North

Say it with Flowers, an Australian exclusive curated by Wotjobaluk curator Kat Clarke, is part of the festival’s Core Program.

Responding to memory, mortality, longing and community, the exhibition is a meditation on the significance of flowers and land within the framework of nostalgia and memory.

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Click here for the BIFB’s one-day itinerary

And click here for the event’s three-day itinerary