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In the days after Princess Diana’s death in August 1997, Portlanders flocked to Pioneer Courthouse Square to grieve the “People’s Princess.” In addition to listening to speeches and bagpipe players, visitors stood in long lines to sign condolence books for her survivors in the royal family, according to news footage from the time.
Those books were supposed to be sent to the United Kingdom, but nobody’s exactly sure what happened to them, according to a 2022 KGW report.
Now, a New York artist is coming to town to right this 29-year-old wrong, perhaps. And she’s got fancy shoes in tow.
Rose Salane will host a public viewing of shoes worn by Princess Diana from 1 to 4 pm Saturday, Feb. 28, at Pioneer Place Mall. Attendees are welcome to touch the white high heels, which the princess wore in 1989 during a visit to a school in Jakarta, Indonesia. They will then be invited to sign a public condolence book.
“As an artist, I am interested in how a historical object can create possibilities for shared moments of reflection when the object is placed in public, outside of the museum,” Salane wrote in an artist’s statement. “Giving the residents of Portland the opportunity to touch shoes worn by Princess Diana, will reopen collective perspectives of nostalgia, loss, and time, redefining the object’s historical value.”
Salane is doing this project as a part of Converge 45’s upcoming citywide exhibition, and in collaboration with the Cooley Gallery at Reed College. She purchased Princess Diana’s high heels at an auction in Los Angeles specifically for this event.
Salane is a visual artist whose site-specific work often focuses on researching and categorizing objects. She did a whole project in 2019, for example, on 94 lost rings recovered by the New York City Transit Authority.
The Feb. 28 event will be filmed for an upcoming documentary.
Salane is curious whether new information about the original condolence books will emerge as part of the event, but that’s not her primary goal. It’s more about bringing artifacts back to life, and forging connections across decades and oceans. Princess Di never visited Portland in her lifetime, but the outpouring of flowers and emotions in the aftermath of her death was immense.
“This question of how somebody could be so far away and yet so connected was fascinating,” Salane says.
SEE IT: Princess Diana’s shoe viewing at Pioneer Place (lower level; former Gap space), 700 SW 5th Ave., converge45.org. 1-4 pm Saturday, Feb. 28. Free, with RSVP in advance.
