Leeds: Ribbons sculpture celebrates city’s inspiring women

A Leeds City Council sculpture review, published in 2020, highlighted the lack of diversity in public sculpture in Leeds and included Ribbons in an action plan to address this issue.

Following a public call-out, nearly 400 women from all walks of life were nominated.

Ms Hale, who designed the artwork, said the ribbons did not just symbolise a historic reference to the suffragette movement.

In an interview with the BBC in 2019, she said: “Ribbons tie many parts together, so the idea is that we are binding the names of these women together over time and space in a celebration of womanhood.”