Sculpture celebrating nearly 400 Leeds women is unveiled
"Ribbons" has been created by artist Pippa Hale
Nearly 400 women are being celebrated with a new sculpture which is being unveiled in Leeds city centre today (Saturday 12 October).
"Ribbons" champions various women, who've been nominated by the public, including some famous faces like Nicola Adams and Mel B.
As the name suggests, it's made up of several ribbons, or lengths of Corten Steel with the women's name on them.
Created by artist, Pippa Hale, the sculpture will be located at the top of the gardens between Leeds City College’s Quarry Hill campus and Leeds Playhouse.
Pippa said: "It stemmed from this idea, of celebrating lots of women, and also naming them. So back in 2018 I think there was really a move across the UK to recognise the contribution that women have made, particularly in public art.
"So, we've got a lots of old Victorian statues of men, particularly in Leeds and I think there was an ambition to redress this gender imbalance in public art in the city.
"So, other cities were commissioning figurative sculptures of historic women, particularly the suffragettes, or women who'd been involved in social reform. I think the idea was to do something different... where we could name not just one woman, but many women."
Today's launch takes place at the sculpture between 1-4pm.