The permanent home of the new Holocaust memorial sculpture for Kirklees is being revealed at a special commemoration event.
Local groups will share their ideas and hopes for the memorial, made from more than six million buttons, at Huddersfield Town Hall on January 30, writes Suzanna Bain.
People all over Kirklees collected the mounds of buttons in 2006, as a way of imagining the scale of the Holocaust and other genocides.
The buttons were made into an inspiring ‘6 million +’ installation, which was initially housed at Huddersfield Art Gallery.
In 2007 the installation went on a four-year national tour across the country, attracting substantial media attention.
Artist Antonia Stowe is now using the buttons to create a permanent memorial sculpture commemorating Holocaust Jews and other minorities killed in genocides.
It will be situated in Huddersfield and will provide a place of contemplation and remembrance, as well as a focus for educational and artistic activities.
It is hoped the memorial will “ignite and flame of confidence, hope and passion, encouraging people to stand up as individuals and in groups to make a positive difference to the lives of others.”
The piece will be the first Holocaust memorial for the North of England.
The chosen site and initial designs will be unveiled at the Town Hall event on January 30, which takes place from 6.20pm, when doors open for displays and refreshments.
Guest speakers include Holocaust survivor and writer Iby Knill and artist Dilara Changis.
The Mayor of Kirklees, Clr Martyn Bolt, will also be present.
A fundraising effort to get the memorial up and running will be launched soon afterwards.
Groups that have been contributing to the project include students from Huddersfield University, Sycamore Grange Intergenerational Group, Huddersfield Town of Sanctuary, Womencentre, Huddersfield New College students, Roma children and parents at Old Bank School, Mirfield, Pakistani Youth Forum, Huddersfield, and Young Batley.
