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The voyage of Captain Willem de Vlamingh to the unknown 'South Land' in 1696 signified one of the earliest European attempts to make cultural and commercial contact with the Australian continent.

The first European to officially arrive in Perth, Willem de Vlamingh is depicted striding ashore at the edge of the Swan River.

The Dutch navigator, who mapped the coast of Western Australia, is shown at the moment of encountering the 'rare Avis', the Black Swan, after whom he named the Swan River. Each startled by each other, they are frozen in bronze at that moment in time, 12 January 1697.

The sculpture was unveiled in January 1997 as a tribute to early Dutch seafarers and in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of de Vlamingh's naming of the Swan River. 

The voyage of Captain Willem de Vlamingh to the unknown South Land in 1696 signifies one of the earliest European attempts to make cultural and commercial contact with the Australian continent. The de Vlamingh sculpture was unveiled by HRH the Prince of Orange on 12 January 1997 as a tribute to early Dutch seafarers and in celebration of the 300th anniversary of de Vlamingh's naming of the Swan River.