Great Petition, Public sculpture in Burston Reserve, Melbourne, Australia
Great Petition is a steel and bluestone sculpture installed in Burston Reserve, in central Melbourne, Australia. It folds repeatedly through the park, dipping below ground level at several points before re-emerging on the other side of the pathways.
The work was unveiled in 2008 and refers to the Monster Petition of 1891, a document signed by thousands of women in Victoria to demand the right to vote. That petition was one of the largest of its kind in Australia and helped push the political debate forward on women's rights.
The sculpture stands close to the Victorian Parliament Building, giving it a direct connection to the place where women's voting rights were debated and eventually granted. Visitors walking through Burston Reserve encounter the work without any barrier, free to touch and follow its form along the path.
Burston Reserve is easy to reach on foot from the center of Melbourne, between Spring Street and the Parliament Gardens. There is no specific entrance to look for, as the work appears naturally as you walk through the park.
The sculpture is only 20 metres long, while the original Monster Petition of 1891 measured 260 metres. Its sheets of paper were glued onto lengths of calico fabric, and the document is now held by the state's Public Record Office rather than displayed at the site.
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