Albany community joins 16 Days in WA campaign with 100 red shoes displayed at Museum of the Great Southern

A global art installation replication featuring 100 red shoes was unveiled at the Museum of the Great Southern on Monday as part of the Statewide 16 Days in WA campaign to end family and domestic violence.

The donated women’s red shoes, a collection of boots, flats, sandals, sneakers and stilettos, are on display in front of the museum’s Co-Op Building, and represents the women and children who have been murdered in Australia as a result of gender-based violence.

The installation is a collaboration between the museum, Southern Aboriginal Corporation and Red Shoes Australia.

SAC chief executive officer Asha Bhat said recreating the installation was designed to start conversation and inspire awareness about femicide in the Great Southern region.

“Visually the rows of red shoes a body length apart will be a sobering reminder of lives lost and families destroyed,” she said.

“But they will also be a sign of hope, courage and love which as a country we need if we are going to break the cycle of abuse and drive cultural change.

“Seeing these shoes and reading these messages is another very emotional aspect to the Red Shoes Australia experience.”

Shoes have been donated from former Albany resident and Olympic hockey player Rechelle Hawkes, Federal Minister for Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek, former foreign minister Julie Bishop, actor Rebecca Gibney, Shaynna Blaze, and Menang Goreng Wadjari Noongar woman and TikTok personality Tjalaminu Mia also known as Aunty TJ.

Ms Bhat said the involvement of influential women in the installation demonstrates that anyone can be affected by family and domestic violence.

“Having the involvement of these influential women who have all been touched in some way by family and domestic violence shows that relationship abuse doesn’t discriminate, and we need to be brave enough to give a voice to the victims who are silenced but not forgotten,” she said.

Shoe painting workshops have been held in the lead-up to the opening of the installation.

“The sessions are not just about the act of painting shoes for an art project,” Ms Bhat said.

“They are about encouraging conversations and sharing ideas to help create a safer, more respectable future for all women.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, phone 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Crisis Care Helpline on 1800 199 008.