The Ballarat International Foto Biennale features a curated 'Core Program' of leading Australian and international
photographic artists, presented in prominent landmark buildings throughout Ballarat including the Ballarat Mining Exchange, the Ballarat Town Hall and the
Art Gallery of Ballarat. This Core Program is complemented by a community access 'Open Program', a city-wide presentation of over 200 artists staged in more than 80 venues including cafes and galleries, project spaces, and public sites. The Biennale exhibitions are complemented by an Events Program that encourages an egalitarian interface with participation of the public and of photographic practitioners of all levels through its program of workshops, seminars, audio-visual projections, master-classes, artist floor-talks, portfolio reviews, an education program and photographic competitions and prizes.
2025 Festival In 2025, the Ballarat International Foto Biennale was held over 60 days from Saturday 23 August to Sunday 19 October, with core exhibitions showcasing the work of British-Ghanaian photographer
Campbell Addy, documentation of the
Vietnam War by French photojournalist
Catherine Leroy, and works by the iconic US photographer
Robert Mapplethorpe, curated by
Edward Enninful, stylist and former editor of
Vogue magazine.
2023 Festival In 2023, the Ballarat International Foto Biennale held its 10th festival. The festival launched on Saturday 26 August and ran until Sunday 22 October. This festival was celebrated as a major milestone for Ballarat Foto and brought in 39,228 visitors to look at the work of 437 artists. The theme for the 2023 festival was
The Real Thing which prompted a profound exploration of reality in today’s world. The program featured British photographer
Platon, Polaroid portraits by US artist and filmmaker
Andy Warhol, and Swedish artist
Erik Johansson.
2021 Festival The 9th Ballarat International Foto Biennale festival showcased the works of
Linda McCartney: Retrospective following along the 2021 theme of
Past, Present, Now. Due to the impact of
COVID-19 and consequential government restrictions, the festival was extended until Sunday 9 January 2022, with a total attendance of over 26,200 visitors.
2017 Festival The 2017 7th Ballarat International Foto Biennale headlined the work of
David LaChapelle with an additional 200+ artists whose work surrounded the theme of
Performance of Identity. The festival ran from Saturday 19 August until Sunday 17 September, where Ballarat Foto greeted 26,800+ festival visitors throughout the 2017 festival.
2015 Festival The 2015 6th Ballarat International Foto Biennale ran from Saturday 22 August until Sunday 20 September. Featuring the work of
Nan Goldin and
David Goldblatt, the 2015 festival focused on the theme of
A World of ideas, thus including a range of projects highlighting social and cultural issues.
2013 Festival The 2013 festival was the 5th festival for Ballarat International Foto Biennale. Opening on Saturday 17 August the festival ran until Sunday 15 September. Showcasing the work of photographer
John Cato and photographer
Gregory Cewdson for the 29 day duration of the festival, and circling around the theme of
The Changing World, the works shown in the 2013 festival demonstrated international photography coinciding with the impact of global shifts.
2011 Festival Ballarat International Foto Biennale’s 4th festival featured photographers including
Peter Lik and
William Eggleston circling around the theme of
The Future of Photography. Exhibiting work of emerging artists alongside the headlining photographers, the 2011 festival opened on Saturday 20 August remaining open for visitors until Sunday 18 September.
2009 Festival Held from Saturday 4 September to Sunday 4 October, this was the third biennial festival and the first to run under the new name and at its new home,
Ballarat International Foto Biennale. Intending to brand the festival as an international event with high community engagement the theme for this festival was
The Big Picture. Showcasing works from 100+ artists alongside, panels, artist talks, workshops and events.
2007 Festival Known as Daylesford Foto Biennale, the second international festival of photography took place from Saturday 2 June to Sunday 1 July. The festival was held in
Daylesford, Victoria, Australia.
2005 Festival The festival's debut was in Daylesford running from Saturday 3 June to Sunday 3 July 2005. The 2005 Festival established a foundation that went on to support the event’s expansion and continuation.
The National Centre for Photography In 2018, Ballarat International Foto Biennale purchased the heritage-listed Union Bank building at 4 Bath Lane, Ballarat Central, to establish a centre for photographic excellence in Ballarat. With funding of $6.7 million from the
Victorian State Government’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund announced in November 2020, work has commenced on the restoration and development of the building for Stage One of the National Centre for Photography project. The
National Centre for Photography will be Australia’s newest and only regional gallery dedicated exclusively to photography and visual imaging culture, with Stage One Development scheduled to be completed in early 2026. == Governance, ambassadors and memberships ==