Photographic Exhibition to Open Aug 19 in QPAC's Pedestrian Tunnel

In the pedestrian tunnel under the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), a photographic exhibition will be unveiled from Monday 19 August. The exhibition will feature both the 2013 winners of the Heritage Bank Photographic Awards as well as an historical showcase of images that have been submitted to the photographic competition since its inception in 1988.

The Heritage Bank Photographic Awards attracts thousands of entries from around Australia and is one of the richest competitions of its type in Australia, with prizes valued at more than $8,000.

QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas said, "Heritage Bank has been a long standing venue partner of QPAC and we felt it was a natural fit to showcase this exhibition at QPAC."

Mr Kotzas also said partnerships help QPAC to prosper in several ways and this particular exhibition is just one of the ways we can give back and share a new experience with our patrons.

"Partnerships with corporate entities are critical to the sustainability of the arts sector and it is therefore important that we deliver great benefits to them in return.

"To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the photographic awards this is a very fitting tribute to Heritage and provides a location that enables the winners' works to be exhibited and profiled to a high volume of people, absolutely free.

"I know this will certainly be an entertaining path for commuters to travel through at the beginning and end of their working day," said Mr Kotzas.

Heritage Bank CEO, John Minz said the images showcase the community's imaginings through time and while they usually fill the walls of Heritage offices and branches, he is extremely excited to see them displayed in such a public space.

"Heritage is delighted to be able to showcase the history of our Photographic Awards through this exhibition at QPAC.

"For the past 25 years we've been encouraging photographers around the country to hone their skills through our awards. Not only has this produced many stunning images, but we like to think that our awards have helped boost interest in photography in communities around the country.

"Supporting the arts through photography is just another way Heritage puts people first. We feel it is important that artworks reflect a sense of community and we are very happy to support these artists in showcasing their endeavours," said Mr Minz.

The exhibition will feature the top 50 images from the 2013 awards, award winners & winners of young photographer category, an image from each of the 25 years of the Awards Program, a timeline portraying Heritage Bank's history, newspaper articles and branch photos representing banks expansion out of the Toowoomba region.

The exhibition will finish on Monday 16 September, 2013.