Summary
Black & white photograph looking along the western nave towards the Grand Organ in the Great Hall, Exhibition Buildings, with a small dais set up in front of the Organ in preparation for the events surrounding the Royal Visit by Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra to Australia in 1959.
The young, twenty-two year old Princess visited Australia from 14 August to 20 September, primarily to attend the Queensland Centenary Celebrations. She returned again in 1967, and in 1980 was in Melbourne to commemorate the centenary of the Exhibition Building, officially bestowing it with the new title, the Royal Exhibition Building.
This is one of 959 photographs (or images) of the Exhibition Building collated by the Exhibition Trustees as a 10 volume pictorial history of the Exhibition Building spanning the years 1880 to 1985. The pictorial history was instigated by the centenary of the Exhibition Building in 1980 and forms part of a larger Royal Exhibition Building collection of documents, photographs, objects and research files.
Description of Content
View looking west towards the Grand Organ, partly obscurred by a draped curtain partion, with a small stage set up in front and decorated with floral arrangements on either side.
Physical Description
A black & white silver gelatin print on a page of a photograph album. There is a printed caption below the photograph.
Significance
The Exhibition Trustees' album containing this photograph provides an invaluable visual record of past maintenance and restoration work undertaken on the Royal Exhibition Buildings prior to the building being recognised with a World Heritage Listing in 2004.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
Public Life & Institutions, Images & Image Making, Royal Exhibition Building
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Acquisition Information
Transfer from Trustees of the Royal Exhibition Building (REB), Jan 2000
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Place & Date Depicted
Royal Exhibition Building (REB), Melbourne, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 Sep 1959
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Person Named
HRH Princess Alexandra, Melbourne, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 Sep 1959
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Format
Photograph, Black & White
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Inscriptions
Printed below photograph: Royal Visit 1959. Reception to Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, Thursday September 17th 1959. Looking west towards Organ Gallery.
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Classification
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Image Dimensions - Photograph
252 mm (Width), 201 mm (Height)
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Keywords
Buildings, Exhibitions: Melbourne International, 1880-1881, Royal Exhibition Building, Royal Exhibition Building Trustees, Royal Exhibition Building: History of Events, 1950-1959, Royal Visits, Royalty: British