Upheaval on the Goldfields

The gold rush in Ballarat was a period of social, political and physical upheaval.

At the height of gold fever, Ballarat was the richest alluvial goldfield in the world. Many thousands of gold-seekers from across the world left their old lives behind and took a leap into the unknown, pouring into the Victorian goldfields in the hope of striking it rich. Tensions on the goldfields in 1854 resulted in an event that would go down in history as Australia’s birth of democracy – the Eureka Stockade.

This massive influx of white settlers resulted in the displacement of the Traditional Owners of the Ballarat area, the Wadawurrung People. Their Country was transformed, as the landscape was cleared of trees the earth was literally turned over in the search for gold – the nearby Dja Dja Wurrung People referred to the resulting devastation as ‘Upside Down Country’.

Historical and contemporary works from the Gallery Collection demonstrate how artists have responded to this upheaval since gold was first discovered on Wadawurrung Country more than 170 years ago.