Fashion Parade Fundraiser | Vintage & Collectables
2026-09-06 14:00 - 16:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | BMI – Minerva Space, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350
This special edition of our regular Twilight Talks series will feature speakers discussing the history of cinema in Ballarat, complimenting our free exhibition. Just a year after the Lumière brothers invented the cinematograph in 1895, the first screenings were held at the Mechanics’ Institute, meaning many had their first ever experience of ‘moving pictures’ in our beautiful Minerva Theatre. Since then, thousands of movies have been screened in the theatre through its many iterations, including at the Vegas 70 theatre which is being reactivated for this year’s Heritage Week. Come along from 5.30pm to grab a drink and wander through the exhibition in the Williamson Foyer, the former candy bar of the cinema, before the talk.

The BMI’s Twilight Talks series has been a forum for sharing fascinating history and radical futures since 2001, check out our website for upcoming talks.

Not the Last Picture Show: Moving Pictures at the BMI

In 1896, Ballarat audiences first witnessed the marvel of ‘moving pictures’ at the BMI’s Mechanics’ Hall, just a year after the Lumière Brothers’ invention of the cinematographe. By 1919, the hall had been converted to a cinema, known as the Britannia, then the Odeon, the Vegas 70, and finally, The Sturt. In 2004, the final cinema lease on the Minerva ended, leaving the ghostly theatre time-worn and scarred from its many uses and iterations. In the 2010’s, committee member Dr. Frank Hurley OAM spearheaded the securing of funding to restore the Minerva to how it looked as a 19th century Mechanics’ Hall, with practical modern additions. Today, the Minerva is a stunning event space, which fulfills its initial purpose as a community hall, playing host to events including concerts, dances, theatre, comedy, exhibitions, banquets, markets and more. The Minerva Space is also used for screenings, making the theatre one of the oldest cinemas still showing films in the world. This Twilight Talk will feature BMI Curator Ellen Becker traversing the history of the Minerva as a cinema, Dr Frank Hurley OAM discussing the incredible work of restoring a disused cinema to a glorious 19th century Mechanics’ Hall, and our Venues and Events Manager Sam McColl will explore how the Minerva is used today and touch on the challenges of putting on modern events in a heritage listed 1860’s Mechanics’ Hall.

More of our Image Collection

Speakers: Frank Hurley, Ellen Becker, BMI Heritage Curator & Sam McColl BMI Venue Manager

Frank Hurley OAM Frank served on the BMI Committee for over 30 years till retiring in 2013. He was then BMI Patron for a further five years. He served numerous terms as President and as Secretary. He played a leading role in the restoration and revitalisation of the BMI in the ten or so years from 2000. In other spheres, Frank was deeply involved, as a senior academic for 25 years, in the evolution of the University of Ballarat (now Federation University) and in the establishment of the University’s Arts Academy city campus in the complex of former government buildings on Camp/Lydiard Streets.

Frank Hurley OAM

Sam McColl Sam is Venue and Events Manager at the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute. Currently in his 6th year at the BMI, Sam has worked at the organisation through immense change – COVID-19, a brand invigoration, changes in board and executive management, and now a cost-of-living crisis that seems to be hitting the arts and culture sector quite hard. Outside the BMI, Sam also works for a local Member of Parliament, and in his ‘spare time’ volunteers with St John Ambulance Victoria.

Sam McColl, Venue & Events Manager

Ellen Becker Ellen Becker is the Heritage Collections Curator at the BMI, and also works as an Education Officer at Sovereign Hill Museums Association. Ellen has previously worked in various roles in collections including at the Australian Film Institute Research Collection, the Arts Centre Melbourne, and the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).

Starting at 6pm (bar open at 5.30pm), close 7pm.

Cost: $12 general admission | $8 BMI members

Bookings

Audience seated in the Vegas 70 Cinema in the 1960's | Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute archives.

Rex’s Snippets | Moving Pictures at the Institute
The Large Hall/Auditorium The large hall or auditorium of the...

Find out more about the BMI building Renovations, via Rex’s Snippits.

Renovations

2024 Twilight Talks

Thanks to the support of Community Bank Buninyong

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The BMI’s Twilight Talks series has been a forum for sharing fascinating history and radical futures since 2001, check out our website for upcoming talks.

This event is part of the Australian Heritage Festival

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