When the Bendigo Advertiser asked ‘What next?’ for the Rosalind Park piazza, the patch of ground on which Forever Marilyn stood in 2016, readers’ responses were many and varied.
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A larger-than-life statue of deputy mayor Rod Fyffe was an early, popular suggestion.
The more adventurous recommended a waterslide or skate rink be erected in place of Marilyn Monroe.
Someone even proposed putting a Pancake Parlour on the corner of View Street and Pall Mall.
Pancakes may well be a delicious addition to the city’s culinary offerings, but after the success of the Marilyn statue, even stacks of those sweet treats are bound to leave Bendigo flat.
The truth is, Bendigo already has another plus-sized icon ready to fill the blonde bombshell’s heels.
Bought for the city during an auction of Sydney Olympic Games props and costumes, a six-metre-tall Kewpie doll named Violet is awaiting her time in the sun.
Once the property of the Bendigo Easter Fair Society, Violet now belongs to funeral director Simon Mulqueen, who is open to her making yet more public appearances around town.
Why not? After all, the 12 Kewpies that circled the Olympic stadium in 2000 sure struck a chord with Australian audiences.
Not only were they a celebration of the 16-day sporting carnival, one that made household names of Ian Thorpe and Cathy Freeman, but also a nod to Australia’s rich – and kitsch – cultural heritage.
Their image evoked memories of a childhood spent at country carnivals, events just like the Bendigo Easter fair.
Theatregoers were reminded of Ray Lawler’s seminal drama, The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.
So iconic were Tony Award winner Brian Thornton’s closing ceremony creations that two were immediate acquired by museums in Canberra and Sydney.
A Queensland pub proudly displayed its pair of Kewpies atop its roof, while visitors pull over at a Bungendore antique shop, 40 kilometres east of the nation’s capital, to take a selfie with another of the giant dolls.
Bendigo’s own Kewpie, the purple corset-clad Violet, would be a fitting, patriotic fixture for the city centre, a nostalgic reminder of our country’s sporting and cultural prowess.
- Mark Kearney, journalist
Mark Kearney
Journalist. Traveller. Pop culture connoisseur. Mark is passionate about education, the arts and social justice, especially stories affecting the LGBTI community.
Journalist. Traveller. Pop culture connoisseur. Mark is passionate about education, the arts and social justice, especially stories affecting the LGBTI community.
