A new creative event is coming to Ballarat next month. Taking over sites like the historic Mining Exchange and the Rare Trades Centre, the inaugural Ballarat Craft and Design Week will feature a central exhibition, as well as creative workshops, open studios, talks and more. It’s all happening from Friday, May 1 to Sunday, May 10.
Ballarat Craft and Design Week
Ballarat was named as a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk in 2019. Located on the lands of the Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung Peoples, this town is home to a vast range of crafts and skills, collected from its indigenous history, its time during the gold rush and its diverse range of migrants over the last 200 years. This new celebration solidifies its status as a Creative City.
Ballarat Craft and Design Week is an evolution of Craft Lab, a development program that helped talented makers and artists in Ballarat. Running since 2021, this program attracted over 7500 participants annually. The new format expands the mission to include more creatives, including designers, manufacturers and raw material producers. The theme this year is Bound, with a program that focuses on textile, memory and restorative practices.
Highlights
Head to the Mining Exchange and check out the central exhibition, Bound. Explore five immersive ‘rooms’, and check out installations ranging from a moonlit textile forest to an ’80s-inspired sculptural glass lighting.
Visit The Unicorn Collection for the large-scale installation, Why Are You Here?, a place where three artists will weave together stories from the community.
Explore Ballarat’s creative scene even further with a range of open studios and talks. If you’re feeling inspired, take part in a workshop, where you can try sewing, locksmithing, screenprinting and more.
Some of these events are free to attend, while others are ticketed. Click here for more details.