Perth Sculptures: Bessie Rischbieth
So I wanted to see more of the new part of Perth, the Elizabeth Quay, the walking bridge and anything else new in the area.
So we made plans to see a few sights, do some shopping, and hang around for sunset. As we walked around, there was a new sculpture to see, a woman, holding an umbrella. Bessie Rischbieth
It was there, little fanfare, no accompanying plaque informing visitors of who she was, nothing.
A little research helped. It might even explain the lack of information with the statue.
A woman who actively protested against development on the Swan River and once stood in front of a bulldozer to stop the Narrows Bridge being built has ironically had a statue built in her honour at Elizabeth Quay, Perth’s largest waterfront development.
Bessie Rischbieth [1874 – 1967], was a feminist and activist for women’s rights and environmental conservation.
She was also an executive of the Citizens Committee for the Preservation of Kings Park and the Swan River, campaigning against a swimming pool being built at Kings Park and failing in her attempts to stop the government reclaiming land to build the Narrows Bridge in 1964.
Ms Rischbieth’s protested to stop the development of the Narrows Bridge in the 1960s.
At nearly 90 years old, the conservationist attempted to block bulldozers from entering the river by standing in their path barefoot while holding an umbrella.
The symbolic moment, captured by photographers, has since become an iconic symbol for protesters and is bizarrely the photo artist Jon Tarry based his Elizabeth Quay bronze statue creation on.
The State Government appeared to be aware of Ms Rischbieth’s opposition to foreshore development, noting her protests on its Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority’s website.
“Bessie Rischbieth championed for the preservation of the Swan River and is best known for taking a stand against its reclamation to build the Narrows Bridge,” the website read.
Ok so I am not from around here, but it seems to me that Perth put a statue of a woman in the midst of something she would have hated.
So let that be a lesson to those who oppose “progress”?
