John XXIII Sculpture
The statue of Pope John XXIII was crafted and presented in 1989 by Khoat Van Nguyen, a Vietnamese sculptor and father of a refugee family, as an act of gratitude to the John XXIII College community who were educating his five younger children.
Mr Nguyen and his family had fled the Communist-ruled North Vietnam in 1954 when he was 15 years of age. They settled in Saigon where Khoat later graduated from the Saigon Art School in 1963 at the age of 24. He created many sculptures in Vietnam before escaping in a boat from the invading armies with his wife and seven children in 1978.
In Perth, the Loreto Sister Dympna McNamara found the family in a refugee holding camp. She had been visiting each week to teach English and to help prepare the people to find employment. She helped families get to mass on a Sunday and would arrange for some of the girls to attend Loreto and the boys to go to St Louis, where possible. Loreto and St Louis amalgamated in 1977 and John XXIII College continued the tradition of taking refugee families, among them the younger members of the Nguyen family.
When John XXIII College finally relocated to their new campus in 1986 Mr Nguyen offered to create a sculpture of Pope John XXIII as a thank you to the College for educating his five younger children. Mr Nguyen produced a Marquette and then worked on his sculpture in the garden of his home in Charles Street, North Perth. This caused a great deal of interest from passing motorists as the sculpture gradually rose high above his front fence.
Upon completion, the sculpture was relocated to the John XXIII College, Mount Claremont campus in 1989.
Within the sculpture, the names of the five Nguyen children can be seen on the side of the school case carried by one of the children, B.Tuyet 1982, K.Minh 1987, K.Thu 1989, S.Thao 1992, and T.Michael 1997. Khoat also placed the cricket bat to symbolise fair play and the welcome of the Australian people.
Khoat Van Nguyen is a well-respected sculptor in Western Australia. His bronze sculpture of a Vietnamese and an Australian soldier can be seen at the Australia-Vietnam Memorial in Synergy Parkland, Kings Park. The John XXIII Sculpture has become a loved icon at the College and Mr Nguyen returned to the College in 2000 to be celebrated by a College Assembly and to receive a plaque which he treasures greatly.
