The unveiling was attended by the former Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, the Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp and Professor Claire Wright Co-Convenor of A Monument of One’s Own. It was also witnessed by a crowd of enthusiastic supporters.
Regrettably, Zelda was not there to see the unveiling of the statue in front of the Victorian Trades Hall in Melbourne as she passed away in 2018 at the age of 90.
The statue captures the iconic moment on October 21, 1969 when Zelda chained herself to the Commonwealth Building in Melbourne. Zelda’s act of defiance was undertaken during her lunch break in protest at the failure of an application for equal pay in the Industrial Court. Whilst seemingly a spontaneous act, it was carefully planned with other female Union activists.
Male Union colleagues were not particularly supportive of their female counterparts, despite the common concerns around social injustices, so the women formed their own committee and set off on a series of protests. This particularly notable protest was captured by the press, who, it seems, were secretly tipped off on the event. A clever strategy which was unheard of during those times.
Zelda borrowed a chain, hid it underneath a coat she made for the occasion, slipped on her elegant sling-back shoes, and literally took to the streets to focus community attention to issue of unequal pay.
Zelda and her colleagues were strong activists and protested a range of gender-based inequities, despite the cost to themselves. However, from their actions several women’s groups were formed all over the country.
Zelda D’Aprano chained herself to the Commonwealth Building in 1969 to protest the disparity in pay for women. (Photo: Museum of Australian Democracy website)
Jennifer Mann, a talented artistic and forensic sculptor, was charged with creating the statue of Zelda which she cleverly called Chain reaction – alluding to both Zelda’s reaction in the wake of gender pay inequity, and how this pivotal moment set off a chain reaction of events that continues to this day. The iconic moment of protest has been captured beautifully by Mann, who submitted her design as part of a competitive tender process.
Mann chose to represent Zelda as she was: dignified, elegant and sharp. “I wanted to capture the essence of Zelda, so I carefully studied many photos of her,” Mann explained. As a result, Zelda is represented holding her cardboard placard in her right hand, while her left hand is outstretched cradling the abundant chain.
The chain hangs down from Zelda’s open palm to a plaque which captures Zelda’s retort to a reporter, who was unimpressed by the protest. He belligerently asked her what she hoped to achieve, to which Zelda replied calmly, “today it was me, tomorrow there will be the two of us, the next day there will be three and it will go on and on and there won’t be any stopping it.”
Zelda was a slight woman, with much inner strength and this is portrayed beautifully by Mann. Zelda’s resolve and intelligence are captured through the direct gaze, the carefully outlined cheek bones and, the knowing smile. “She knew exactly what she was doing,” said Mann.
The statue is a result of a three-year campaign for a statue of Zelda. It was brought to life through both an intense public funding campaign and assistance from the Victorian State Government.
Mann explains that she is very proud to have the statue standing in such an important position in Melbourne. “The city can be proud of her, locals and tourists can see her, learn about her and what she stood for.” The statue stands as a powerful reminder of the women’s movement and how women were at times shunned, and at others, tolerated.
Zelda knew of injustice. She was a child of Jewish parents, her mother from Belorussia and father from Ukraine. They both had to flee persecution and finally made their way to Australia where life was hard. Zelda had to leave school at 14 to help support her working-class family through a series of jobs in factories and as a seamstress. Admittedly, there were very limited opportunities for girls to continue their schooling generally, and especially for girls from working-class homes. Zelda’s sense of social justice remained a key theme in her life.
Zelda met Charlie D’Aprano, an Italian migrant also concerned with working conditions at the time. She described their courtship as wonderful but there were hard years to follow. At 16, Zelda married Charlie and by 17 was already a mother to their only child, Leonie. Along with her husband they were both politically active and engaged with the Communist party for many years before she moved on from the party. Their relationship ended when she was 37 years of age.
The statue of Zelda is part of an initiative by the organisation, A monument of one's own, which seeks to redress the scant representation of women in public art. Of 580 statues across Melbourne, only nine depict real women, whilst 27 are fictitious or allegorical.
National figures are not encouraging either. With less than 15 per cent of Australia’s statues in six capital cities representing women, there is a resounding silence about the contribution of women to society. Curiously, it seems that Sydney has many more statues of birds than of women.
Mann is pleased to have had the chance to address the obvious dearth of statutes, saying “as a sculptor I was always aware of the disparity”.
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard joined a group including Jennifer Mann for the unveiling of the Zelda D’Aprano statue.
Mann chose to work with bronze for the Zelda statue, but is equally talented in working with marble and has spent considerable time over the years in Pietrasanta, Tuscany, cutting marble for her works. A proficient speaker of Italian and student of Italian art history, Mann has carved out quite a reputation for her stunning works. Zelda will certainly be one of her notable sculptures.
In calling the artwork Chain Reaction, Mann also draws attention to the gender-based challenges which continue to this day. In terms of pay inequity, currently there is still a 14.3 per cent pay gap between men and women. The quest goes on, it would seem.
Interestingly, indulging in a little bit of historical trivia, the day of the unveiling coincided with the anniversary of the day when Joan of Arc was charged with heresy and witchcraft and burned at the stake.
Trivia aside, whilst society has addressed disparities of opportunity for women to some extent, Zelda now stands as a constant reminder that there is still a long way to go before the issue of pay inequity also becomes a thing of the past.
