A giant golden monkey will take up residence on Lydiard Street's National Centre for Photography as part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale, which begins next month.
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Australian artist Lisa Roet's Golden Monkey statue is an endangered Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, discovered in 2010 when it was heard sneezing in the rain in the jungle.
The nine metre monkey, about the size of the 'Ballarat's Big Miner' statue in Warrenheip, will cling to the historic former Union Bank Building with digital images highlighting urban and environmental concerns, and the reality of species extinction.
Golden Monkey is part of the BIFB's outdoor program which will see Lydiard Street from Ballarat Station through the CBD transformed with large-scale photographic works on buildings including the station, Regent Cinemas, the Sporting Globe and other Lydiard Street addresses.
The outdoor program will also see exhibitions in unusual places across the city.
Scores of other hospitality venues and other businesses across Ballarat will become temporary galleries throughout the two-month BIFB hosting exhibitions from local and international photographers.
"We have reached far and wide into all corners of the world to bring together the greatest collection of photographs that have documented our generation. It's up to the viewer to have an opinion as to what is real and what is not," said BIFB chief executive Vanessa Gerrans.
"This event encourages curiosity, and we invite all to experience the city of Ballarat through a different lens."
The BIFB's headline exhibition People Power - Platon, will feature more than 120 portraits of people who have shaped the world including world leaders, celebrities, musicians, sporting stars and those whose actions have created change.
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Indian street photographer Vineet Vohra will hold workshops studying the streets and style of Ballarat with his works, fittingly, on exhibition as part of the outdoor program along Lydiard Street, Police Lane and Armstrong Street.
A selection of Polaroid images from iconic photographer Andy Warhol capturing people, parties and pop culture from the 1970s and 1980s will also draw crowds to the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
The Ballarat International Foto Biennale runs from August 26 to October 22.
The full program is now online at ballaratfoto.org
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