Project Background

Title: Memorial to the Indigenous  Female Pearl Divers

Location: Hamersley Street, Conti Foreshore, Broome, 6725

Client: Shire of Broome and Kimberley Development Commission

Date Completed: 2010

Project Materials: Bronze

Project size: Over-Life-Size

Dedication Date: 26th November 2010 by Hon. Wendy Duncan MLC.

Description:

The 3 metre bronze cast statue of a female diver coming out of the water, pearl shell in hand, recognises and is dedicated to the women who have contributed to Broome's pearling history for over a century.

The statue of an Indigenous woman coming out of the water with a pearl shell also seeks to acknowledge those who were exploited as divers along the coastline south of Broome during the 'blackbirding' phase. "Blackbirding” was  the forcible kidnapping of Aboriginal women to pearl luggers, where they dived for pearl shells in deep water, often without breathing apparatus. Unsurprisingly, many of the women drowned.

Plaque Inscription:

                                  " ......And precious the tear as that rain from the sky,

                                     Which turns into pearls as it fall in the sea... "