Violet - Kewpie Doll from Sydney Olympics closing ceremony

Bendigo Easter Fair Society

Violet - The kewpie doll of Bendigo

James Colmer and Lara Denman
Bimmini Special FX and Design Studio, Gold Coast, Queensland
Fibreglass performance prop, Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony

Come and meet Violet

This 6-metre-tall fibreglass Kewpie doll, originally named Violet, is one of twelve figures created for the Sydney Olympic Games Closing Ceremony on 1 October 2000.

Stage designer Brian Thomson planned the Kewpies as seventeen in number, referencing Ray Lawler's 1955 play Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, where Kewpies represent illusion, childhood innocence, and surrogate companionship. Budget constraints reduced the set to twelve. Each doll received a distinct floral name from the prop makers at Bimmini Special FX and Design Studios on Queensland's Gold Coast; Violet's name was assigned during fabrication.

Violet was acquired at the Remains of the Games auction on 28 October 2000 at Eveleigh Railway Yards, Sydney. Bendigo Easter Fair Society president Simon Mulqueen, accompanied by committee member Rachel MacCulloch, travelled to the auction intending to purchase one of the dolls for the regional festival. Upon learning the doll's original name was Violet – matching the name of long-serving life member Violee Myers-Davey OAM, who had contributed 78 years of volunteer service to the Bendigo Easter Fair – the Society secured her, along with other items including the Bananas in Pyjamas stage, for approximately $7,000. Cleave Removals transported Violet to Bendigo free of charge.

Ahead of the 131st Bendigo Easter Fair in 2001, Violet was unveiled as a tribute to Violee Myers-Davey. Dressed in a purple glittered bodice and gold satin skirt, she featured in the Easter parades of 2001 and 2002, attracting attention from audiences including visitors from Mount Gambier.
Following the downsizing of Easter Fair Society in 2003, Violet was 'adopted' by Simon Mulqueen to ensure she remained in Bendigo and kept in private Storage for the last 23 years.

After years in private storage under Mulqueen's care, Violet has been specially restored for the 2026 Bendigo Easter Festival. She will be displayed beside the Alexander Fountain at Bendigo Piazza for the duration of the festival, offering visitors a rare opportunity to see this Olympic icon in person before she returns to protected storage. Violet will also appear digitally in the Living Art Space exhibition, celebrating the Society's 100th anniversary of incorporation.

The story of Violet illustrates how even iconic, and internationally recognisable artifacts, like those from the Sydney 2000 Olympics, can be successfully integrated into regional heritage and identify.

As preparations advance for her 2026 installation at the Bendigo Piazza and her virtual presence in the Living Art Space centenary exhibition, Violet is a special tribute to volunteer contributions that have sustained the Bendigo Easter Fair for over a century