Centennial exhibition : [poster]

Poster for the Centennial Exhibition held 20 March-16 May 1936 at Centennial Hall, Wayville. Artwork by Albert V Adlam.

In 1936 South Australia celebrated 100 years since the foundation of the state as a British colony. Official histories, plays and exhibitions were produced to mark the achievements of the century.

The state government sponsored four official centenary celebration functions, which were: Heritage, a theatre pageant production; Colonel Light the Founder, by Max Afford; The Landing at Glenelg and the Proclamation and The Pageant of Progress, the grand finale of the year's celebrations held in December. Other events held in Adelaide included a Children's Empire Pageant and Floral Pageant.

At Centennial Hall, Wayville - which was itself built as a celebration of the centenary - an exhibition was held, with categories for manufacturers and producers, for artisans and craftspeople and for technical schools.

Centennial Hall, one of Adelaide's last remaining Art Deco style buildings, was closed in 2005 as the poor building practices of the Depression era had led to serious deterioration of the structure with concrete cancer and eroding steel. New state of the art exhibition halls have replaced it with current best practice storm water capture and solar power panels installed.

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