Maria's Story — South Melbourne

Site: Grassy seating area, corner Napier and Church Sts.

Artist: Julie Shiels

Description: A bronze casting of a wooden chair with a pair of little girl's shoes underneath.

The work is based on the story of local Koorie identity Maria Starcevic. It refers to her background in the local girls ophanage and her experience of separation from her family and culture when she was taken away. The isolation and rigidity of convent life is illustrated by a solitary chair, located in the corner of a small park away from other seats.

The seat of the chair is inscribed with Maria's story in the perfect script that she learnt from the nuns. The small shoes represent confinement: little feet were often squashed into shoes that were too small for them.