Covid Memorial Ribbons, Installed March – August 2023

The Sheffield Covid Memorial Willow Tree was commissioned by Sheffield City Council and designed by George King Architects. It was installed in Balm Green Gardens and unveiled during an opening ceremony on 23rd March 2023, the national day of Covid remembrance.

Sarah Waterhouse and Liah Edwardes were commissioned to create 300 memorial fabric ribbons to hang from the tree. The ribbons were hand printed and embroidered with memories, drawings and stories from the pandemic, submitted by the people of Sheffield.  The ribbons are made from hemp fabric with two thirds dyed using onion skin dye. The first 100 ribbons were installed in early April with the remaining 200 installed in the summer. When the ribbons were removed they went to Sheffield Archives to be kept in the collections.