She gained fame valiantly standing to face Wall Street’s Charging Bull, and now, the Fearless Girl statue has popped up in yet another country.
A faithful reproduction of the highly publicised New York bronze statue by artist Kristen Visbal has been unveiled in Melbourne, Australia, standing tall with hands on hips in the city’s Federation Square.
Launched ahead of International Women’s Day on Mar. 8, the statue was unveiled by the artist herself on Tuesday.
‘Fearless Girl’ stands tall in Melbourne’s Federation Square.
The original statue, which was placed in 2017 on the eve of International Women’s Day, is still located in New York’s financial district, but was moved around the corner in December 2018 to face the New York Stock Exchange.
Like the original statue, the Fearless Girl replica is intended to remind passersby of the gender inequality that still exists, particularly in workplaces, and to inspire women and girls in particular to find courage in the face of discrimination.
The original ‘Fearless Girl’ faces the New York Stock Exchange.
“The arrival of our very own Fearless Girl in Victoria is a reminder that we must continue to build a better world for future generations of women,” Victorian minister for women, Gabrielle Williams, said in a press statement.
“We need to tackle pay gaps, increase the number of women in leadership positions, provide flexible work environments and ensure girls and young women have strong female role models they can look up to.”
It’s worth noting the statue has some big money behind it, presented by Australian social justice law firm Maurice Blackburn, alongside superannuation funds HESTA and Cbus.
They are not affiliated with State Street Global Advisors Trust Company or McCann ad agency, who commissioned the original Fearless Girl sculpture.
“Many workplaces in Australia still have a long way to go in acting on gender equality and the impacts of this don’t stop at work,” Maurice Blackburn CEO, Jacob Varghese, said in a press statement.
“In unveiling Fearless Girl for the first time here in Australia we hope to establish a powerful reminder that we must continue to fight to change our workplaces for the better in delivering equality.”
Of course, some folks have already taken photos with the defiant youngster, adopting that iconic stance.
“Know the power of women in leadership”
That’s what the plaque accompanying the original Fearless Girl sculpture in New York read.
Now we have our own Fearless Girl in Melbourne and she’ll serve as a reminder for the many girls and women who see her to know their own power. pic.twitter.com/BS4Y2FRxXl
— Jana Stewart for Kooyong (@JanaforKooyong) February 26, 2019
Could this be the start of a global movement of Fearless Girl statues? We’re all for it.
But unfortunately legal matters could stop everything in its tracks. State Street Global Advisors filed a lawsuit against Visbal on Feb. 14 in New York State Supreme Court, claiming trademark infringement for three “unauthorised” replicas of the statue they commissioned.
And yes, that includes Australia’s new statue, as well as the replica unveiled outside Oslo’s Grand Hotel in 2018. Go and pose with Fearless Girl while you can, Australia, just in case.
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