For 52 years The Prospector has been a symbol of connection between Perth and Kalgoorlie-Boulder, but on Tuesday 24 October 2023 the rail journey to the Goldfields took on new significance.
The iconic train departed from East Perth Station at 7.05am carrying a box of red women’s shoes – a legacy from last year’s moving art installation Red Shoes Australia which shone a light on women in Australia who have lost their lives to gender-based violence.
The shoes were part of a collaborative project which saw 392 pairs of red women’s shoes laid a body length apart in the forecourt of WA Museum Boola Bardip to represent the total number of women murdered in Australia between 2015 and 2020*.
The event was held in November during the 2022 16 Days in WA campaign to stop violence against women - the first time Los Zapatos Rojos (The Red Shoes) has ever been replicated in Australia.
Now thanks to a partnership between the Museum of the Goldfields and the Goldfields Women’s Health Care Centre (GWHCC) the global art project created by Mexican Artist Elina Chauvet will be replicated in Kalgoorlie-Boulder for this year’s 16 Days in WA.
Red Shoes Australia Ambassador, leading forensic scientist, and WA Australian of the Year 2024 finalist, Dr Paola Magni, ensured the box of red shoes was safely onboard The Prospector where it was under the watchful eye of TransWA during the 653-kilometre journey.
It was received at Kalgoorlie Station at 2.00pm by Museum of the Goldfields Regional Manager, Marta Perona and GWHCC CEO, Gloria Moyle.
The arrival of the box of shoes signals the start of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder community’s efforts to donate and paint red women’s shoes to form this year’s installation which will be created on the walkway leading into the Museum of the Goldfields.
*Australian Criminal Intelligence National Homicide Monitoring Program – 2015 – 2020.
