SquaresRenew 7: monuments to women
As a follow up to yesterday’s post on statues to named women, here are some monuments to women in general. Not quite as new as the statues, but still with the same spirit of moving forward to recognise the role that women play and have played in society. (Apologies, I wasn’t thinking Squares at the time so have had to cut some feet off.)
Above is Mother Daughter Sister by Ross Wilson, erected in 2015 as part of the ‘Building Peace through the Arts – Re-imaging Communities’ programme. It stands in Sandy Row, site of the King William mural I featured a few days ago which can be seen in the background. The sculptor is quoted as saying:
This sculpture celebrates the dynamic female culture and identity of Sandy Row and the generational contribution women have made to this community both in the family and work place. Mother Daughter Sister has its beginnings in Sandy Row’s past but encourages all women to follow their dreams with hope-filled hearts into a hope-filled future.
Outside the Great Northern Mall is Monument to the Unknown Women Workers (Louise Walsh 1992).
The sculpture shows two working-class women with symbols of women’s work, both domestic and in the workplace, embedded in the surfaces. These include a colander, a baby’s bottle, a shopping basket, clothes pegs, a typewriter and a telephone. There is also text relating to the fight for equal pay. I’m not sure the statue would be considered so controversial now, I hope we have moved forward, but in the 1990s there was a bit of a stooshie about it – this recent interview with Louise Walsh in the Belfast Telegraph explains all. I recommend reading it, not least for a slightly unexpected insight into the character of Ian Paisley.
Part of Becky’s SquaresRenew Challenge, using images from our April 2024 trip to Northern Ireland to illustrate one or more of the following:
- Move forward
- Reconstruct
- Renew
- Burgeoning
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
The ongoing discrepancy now would be the pay gap. So, money symbols could be added. What do you think the continued fear is in equitable pay? Women do want to keep their men, I would think.
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Equal pay is still an issue – women’s work is often not valued and men can be very protective of their perceived differentials. A huge case here in Glasgow City Council has only recently been settled at great expense for, in my opinion, these reasons.
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I love that elegant statue of Mother Daughter Sister, and it’s so interesting how different elements of “women’s work” were embedded into the working class women’s statues.
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They are both great pieces and, again, show Northern Ireland being ahead of us in terms of representation of women in public art. Very surprising to me!
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Those working women don’t look very happy!
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They don’t but if you could read the text on their bodies about equal pay and the lack thereof you would know why!
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It was an interesting article. I enjoyed the whole glasses saga in it.
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The whole thing would make a good comedy sketch!
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Rather good, even footless!
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It was the feet or the heads. I think I made the right decision.
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Great sculptures, and yes, women have moved on, but perhaps not as much as we expected to in the 1970s.
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I agree, and sadly going backwards in some areas.
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That sculpture is incredibly powerful. Encouraging us to follow our dreams with hope-filled hearts into a hope-filled future is exactly what we all need right now.
And, once again, I learned a new word via your blog. I’m off to look up ‘stooshie’ right now!
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I liked that concept too. I look forward to stooshie becoming an integral part of Vancouver Island discourse! It’s a great word.
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The sculpture looks intriguing, one to spend some time studying for sure. I read the newspaper article (thanks for the link) and it really did shed a lot of light on the genesis of the work and the controversy around it – and a bit on Paisley too, as you said!
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I thought that was very interesting, and some of the attitudes were shocking, but Paisley behaved very reasonably.
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A great idea for Belfast to come up with these tribute statues just to give you some excellent Squares for the challenge.
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So thoughtful of them!
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Wonderful statues Anabel and interesting words to go with the photos. Women certainly have moved forward
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Yes we have – though a long way still to go I think.
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I love MotherDaughterSister and like the quote from the sculptor, especially the second sentence.
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Yes, I think he has done a great job there.
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Wonderful examples!
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Aren’t they great! Very thoughtfully created.
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I love the details and the care that’s gone into creating these statues. Such clever work.
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They are clever, and I like getting insights from the sculptors about their thinking.
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oh these are wonderful (even without their feet – sorry about square restrictions!), and how great more female statues are appearing and not ones that are focused on our curves!
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I just didn’t think at the time – I could probably have stood further back and made it easier. Actually, the curves were part of the problem in the 90s – it’s funny, but quite sad.
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I have done the same with so many shots – have changed my camera setting on the phone to squares but if I use my main camera no hope unless I am in square mode!
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