Case Study: Richard Nicholls and Stephanie Green – UNITE the Union International Women’s Day Installation
Overview
In March 2025, artists Richard Nicholls and Stephanie Green collaborated on a bold and thought-provoking installation for UNITE the Union to mark International Women’s Day. The artwork, displayed at UNITE headquarters and shared across regional branches, was designed to provoke conversation around gender equity in the workplace and to celebrate the vital role women have played—and continue to play—in trade union movements.
Background
UNITE the Union has a long-standing commitment to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace. For International Women’s Day, the union commissioned Nicholls and Green to create an artwork that would visually reflect both the historical struggles and future hopes of women within labour movements.
Richard Nicholls is known for his large-scale sculptural installations that repurpose industrial materials. His practice often explores the intersections of class, labour, and identity. Stephanie Green, a multi-disciplinary artist and poet, brings a deeply emotive and narrative-led approach to her work, using textiles, text, and community engagement to centre stories of resilience and change.
Artist Statement
This installation weaves together composite images from over a century of protest—layering archival photographs from the 1912 suffragette marches through to present-day demonstrations. In doing so, it traces the persistent thread of collective resistance and the evolving aesthetics of dissent.
Presented across three plinths, each bearing a different temporal focus, the work invites viewers to step into a multi-generational dialogue on protest. From hand-sewn banners to high-vis jackets, from black-and-white stills to digital-era placards, these visual fragments highlight both continuity and change in how people gather, resist, and demand justice.
Alongside this historical reflection, the piece confronts the present reality: recent changes to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act—particularly Section 14—now impose severe restrictions on the right to assemble. This legislation casts a shadow over our democratic freedoms. The question at the heart of the work becomes urgent: How can we achieve equality if our voices are silenced?
By placing past and present in direct conversation, the installation asks viewers to consider the fragile relationship between power, protest, and progress. It is both a memorial and a provocation—a reminder that the right to protest is not a relic of history, but a living necessity.
Feedback from attendees included:
“It was moving to see our stories of women and protest.”
“Art like this helps us remember what we’re fighting for—and who we’re fighting with.”
Legacy
Following the success of PROTEST, UNITE has committed to commissioning annual IWD installations that combine activism and art. Nicholls and Green are in early conversations with the union to develop a 2026 piece.
