Statue of writer who drowned herself will sit next to... a river
IT’S causing emotional turmoil worthy of one of her novels. Plans for a riverside statue of Virginia Woolf have been labelled as ‘insensitive’, given that the author drowned herself in a river, and opponents claim it could even trigger copycat suicides.
The proposed statue will depict the writer sitting on a bench gazing out at the river at Richmond, south-west London.
The £50,000 bronze statue was given the green light by Richmond Council earlier this week.
But campaigners say it is in bad taste, insensitive, and could even trigger similar suicide attempts.
The modernist Bloomsbury Group author of books including Mrs Dalloway and To The Lighthouse killed herself in the River Ouse, East Sussex, in 1941.
Barry May, chairman of the Richmond Society, said: ‘Virginia Woolf was a distinguished author, an icon for the feminist cause and a famous resident. We believe placing the statue on the riverside would be ill advised, insensitive and reckless however.
‘She drowned herself in a river at the age of 59 after a history of mental illness which blighted her life. A figure reclining on a bench gazing over the water might distress anyone who knows her story and is in a vulnerable state of mind.’ But supporters of the statue say that to ‘hide’ it in a residential street is offensive to Woolf’s legacy and she deserves to be pride of place in one of the suburb’s most beautiful spots. They also point out there are more sculptures of animals in
London than there are of women. Aurora Metro, the charity behind the life-size figure of Woolf by sculptor Laury Dizengremel, said: ‘Efforts by the Richmond Society to change the location of the stature which has been chosen for many practical reasons... comes across as an attempt to push people like her out of sight.
‘The statue’s intent is to celebrate diverse lives and encourage conversations around mental health, feminism, sexuality and gender. This cannot be done if the statue is tucked away on a residential street.’
Tory councillor Kate Howard said: ‘I think it would be very poignant to have a statue near the river as a reminder of how easily water can overcome you.’