Spring is in full swing! This week we’re flashing back to another time when the City of Ballarat was in full bloom.

In March 1938, Ballarat celebrated the centenary of the first white settler setting up camp in Ballarat. The city was blanketed with millions of natural and artificial flowers, transforming the streetscape with vibrant swathes of colour. 

We have many images of the city papered with flowers in 1938, but the two women in the foreground holding hands as they cross the street make this one a favourite. 

We recognise that the notion of celebrating white settlement is fraught and complex, and acknowledge that Ballarat was established on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung People.

This image is featured in our Foto Biennale exhibition ‘Rupture’. The exhibition is open during Library hours.