Extract from ABC News
More than 12,000 people packed into Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building for the opening of the first Australian parliament in 1901. (State Library of Victoria)
The opening of Australia's first parliament in 1901 is one of those rare events in the country's history where there wasn't an intense rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne for bragging rights.
It was always going to be held in Melbourne, with the city's Royal Exhibition Building the only building nationwide big enough and grand enough to host such a history-making event.
After falling into disrepair and coming close to demolition in the 1940s, the building, constructed in the 1870s, is now in top shape to play host to 125-year anniversary events this weekend.
The celebrations will mark that nation-building moment on May 9, 1901, when Australia's first federal parliament was opened by a future King of England.
The world heritage-listed building even sports the same interior decor it displayed in 1901, having been restored in the 1990s after being painted over with coats of pink, white and grey at various points in its history.
There are patches of missing paint, but the building still looks pretty good for a construction nearing its 150th birthday.
The ornate interior of the Royal Exhibition Building was restored to its former glory in the 1990s. (Supplied: Thomas Breakwell, Museums Victoria)
This weekend's anniversary celebrations also give Museums Victoria a chance to bring out some treasures not seen in public for decades, such as Charles Nuttall's famous painting of the opening of parliament, which has not been displayed since 2001.
Michelle Stevenson, head of history and technology at Museums Victoria, said the commemorations were a chance for Australians to think about how that moment shaped the next 125 years of democracy.
"One of the things that was exciting about 1901 was that hope and vision that Australians had for the new Australian nation," Dr Stevenson said.
"Obviously that went on to be quite complex as it ushered in moments like the beginning of the White Australia Policy and the constitutional exclusion of First Nations people.
"As a counterpoint, I suppose and in a sense of hope moving forward, we'll be displaying one of the copies of Victorian Treaty documents and just asking people to reflect on what they want the next 125 years of democracy in Australia to look like."
The Royal Exhibition Building was decorated with 10,000 lights for the 1901 visit of the Duke of Cornwall and York. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
A historic day 'full of smiles and tears'
The visit of George, the Duke of Cornwall and York and his wife Mary for the opening of parliament was the first time Australia had hosted an heir to the throne.
George, aged 35 when he came to Australia in 1901, would become king nine years later almost to the day.
The royal couple's Australian visit was part of a greater tour that took in Malta, Sri Lanka, Singapore, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, primarily to thank those British colonies for helping out with the Boer War.
An estimated half a million people lined Melbourne's streets to watch the Duke's procession through the city centre prior to officially opening parliament.
The visit of the Duke of Cornwall and York was the first time Australia had hosted an heir to the throne. (National Library of Australia)
The event itself at the Royal Exhibition Building was described in The Argus as "a magnificent demonstration" and "a masterpiece of organisation".
"By the hand of Royalty, in the presence of the greatest concourse of people that Australia has seen in one building, and with splendid pomp and ceremony, the legislative machinery of the Commonwealth was yesterday set in motion. The day was full of smiles and tears, the smiles predominating," the paper reported.
"The worthiest of Australia were there — the men who hold their distinguished positions because they have won them and because they deserve them.
"All that is best in politics, in commerce, in industry, in the arts, in the church, in the school, in the public service of Australia was represented there, and every heart beat high with pride and with hope."
The carriage used for the duke's visit will be on display as part of commemorations this weekend. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
The task of capturing the moment for posterity fell to Melbourne artist and illustrator Charles Nuttall.
Nuttall, then 29, was commissioned by a syndicate of Melbourne businesses to produce a painting that captured the grand scale of the event with as much detail as possible.
It was not an easy task, given 12,000 people were packed into the Royal Exhibition Building to witness the Duke's opening speech.
Nuttall's painting, which measures more than four metres in width and two metres in height, features more than 340 identifiable faces.
Charles Nuttall's painting of the opening of the first Australian parliament is on display for the first time since 2001. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
After capturing initial sketches on the day, he spent 18 months in individual sittings with dignitaries to render their portraits into the larger work.
The painstaking process tested Nuttall's patience as much as the politicians of the day, who were not always accommodating.
Prime Minister Edmund Barton was "restless and irritable", Nuttall would later recount, and Opposition Leader George Reid's tendency to fall asleep during sittings prompted threats from the artist to paint him that way.
The faces of more than 340 dignitaries are identifiable in Nuttall's painting. (Supplied: Museums Victoria.)
Recreating Nuttall's work 125 years later
As part of commemorations of the 125th anniversary of the opening of the first parliament, photographer Tiffany Garvie has been commissioned to recreate Nuttall's iconic work.
Nuttall was colourblind and painted in sepia tones, but Garvie has promised her work won't be lacking in colour.
"We'll definitely be going with a much more contemporary look for the photo. We're going to be having some pretty big names in the room so ideally we'd like to be able to show their faces and keep the image as clear as possible,' she said.
Museum staff work on Nuttall's famous painting before it goes on display for the first time in 25 years. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
"We'll be going for a much more natural look and a more realistic look and I think being able to document who's there on the day is pretty important."
As a Gunggari woman, Garvie is aware of the irony that a First Nations photographer is now at the heart of commemorations of an event that conspicuously excluded Indigenous Australians.
"Aboriginal people are the most documented people on earth and having the opportunity now to flip that around to document parliament as a First Nations photographer is definitely a different take on that," she said.
"I'm very proud to be able to capture this moment because we're not only capturing politicians in this photo, but we're also documenting the Aboriginal community who are involved in this event as well, putting ourselves in history as equals and being included in this moment."
A link to a history-making event restored
The weekend's commemorations are also an opportunity to restore a place in history to one witness of the opening of parliament on that historic day.
Sabina Peipers had a front row view to the Duke of Cornwall and York's speech on May 9, 1901, seated next to her father, Consul for the German Empire, Wilhelm Alexander Brahe.
The invitation to the opening of Australia's first parliament sent to Wilhelm Alexander Brahe and Sabina Peipers. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
Brahe, who represented Germany in Australia for more than 20 years, is one of the 344 dignitaries featured in Nuttall's famous painting, but Sabina is not.
In her place, Nuttall painted himself, excluding Sabina Peipers from his enduring representation of the day.
"While there was definitely that sense of exclusion, particularly in Nuttall choosing to do that, we do then see that inclusion of women in Australia's political system with the opening of federal parliament, from that moment onwards," Michelle Stevenson said.
The dress worn by Sabina Peipers to the opening of the first parliament is held by Museums Victoria. (Supplied: Museums Victoria)
Ironically, Museums Victoria holds the invitation to the event sent to Sabina and her father in its collection, as well as the dress she wore for the grand occasion.
The black silk satin dress has been painstakingly cared for by the museum's conservation team after being donated by a descendant of Sabina Peipers.
"We'll be having those objects out for display, so we're putting Sabina back into the story and back into her rightful place in that significant moment,"Dr Stevenson said.
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