The Ribbon

A Memorial for Reflection, Resilience, and Connection for the people of West Lothian.

The Ribbon is a lasting tribute to the lives affected by the COVID-19 pandemic — a project three years in the making, shaped by the voices, experiences, and creativity of communities across West Lothian.

Rather than a traditional memorial, The Ribbon was co-created through a deeply collaborative process. Through conversations, workshops, and shared experiences with local schools, community groups, and individuals, a common vision began to emerge: a space that could offer both remembrance and hope. From these collective efforts, a powerful idea took form — a ribbon, fluid and open, symbolizing resilience, reflection, and the threads that connect us.

Crafted in steel yet inspired by the softness and movement of fabric, the sculpture draws from our background in textiles. Its gentle curves offer places to sit, gather, and simply be — a space that invites reflection, music, conversation, and play. Children might walk along its path, and families may pause here to connect with memories and each other. It's not only a place to remember, but one where life continues to be lived.

The design was carefully shaped by the needs and hopes of the community. Ribbons have long served as symbols of remembrance, but here they also speak of healing, storytelling, and togetherness. The semi-circular layout encourages gathering, while the surrounding garden — enriched with meaningful plants and flowers — enhances the space with living symbolism. Among them, the rose stands out, chosen as a symbol of love, reminding us of the friendships and connections that carried us through.

Above all, The Ribbon is a celebration of community: a space born from collective grief, but filled with stories of strength, compassion, and hope. It invites each visitor to pause, remember, and find connection — with the past, with others, and with the path ahead.

Visit The Ribbon in person at:

The Civic Centre, Howden South Road, Livingston, EH54 6FF, Scotland.

Click here for a links to maps.

A Note of Thanks

We extend our deepest gratitude to the many individuals and community groups who helped shape The Ribbon. Special thanks to ARC, Dio, Stephen, Electra, Jen’s group Voice Rocks (pictured above), and members of the 50+ Network — your ideas, energy, and stories have been instrumental in bringing this space to life.

We are especially grateful to Camille Archer at West Lothian Council, whose dedication and collaborative spirit made this project possible from the very beginning. Our thanks also go to Green Space Scotland, whose vision to create a lasting legacy for COVID-19 across 32 localities has been both inspiring and essential to this work.

We would also like to acknowledge Mike Hyatt, our landscape architect, for his thoughtful design and attention to detail; Ratho Byre Forge for their skilled craftsmanship in shaping the sculpture; and David Wilson, whose beautiful dry stone wall adds a grounding, timeless element to the garden.

Thank you all — this space stands as a testament to what can be created when a community comes together with care, creativity, and shared purpose.

Design & Fabrication Process

We approached the design of the ribbon sculpture by first reflecting on the emotional and cultural impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our aim was to move away from the static nature of traditional memorials and instead create a space that feels alive—inviting interaction, movement, and community engagement. Drawing on our background in textiles, we explored how the flowing, delicate qualities of a ribbon could be translated into a durable, weather-resistant form suitable for the outdoors. Through iterative sketching, material testing, and spatial modelling, we developed a structure that captures the softness and calm of fabric, while maintaining structural integrity. The semi-circular form was carefully considered to create an acoustically and socially welcoming space—encouraging people to gather, reflect, sing, or play music, fostering both individual contemplation and collective healing.

Image of *The Ribbon* illustrating how the sculpture sits within the garden layout, highlighting its scale and dimensions.

A view of *The Ribbon* adorned with plants and flowers, each symbolising a sentiment shared during the community workshops — from grief and hope to love and resilience.

Sketch to identify the location of The Ribbon and its surrounding garden.

List of botanical elements drawn and embedded into the design of *The Ribbon*

The Ribbon was made at Ratho Byres Forge using a mix of traditional blacksmithing and modern tools. The team shaped the metal by hand and with power hammers, working with heat to bend and form each part. Every detail, like the flowing curves and floral designs, was carefully crafted to reflect themes of remembrance and hope. Once the shaping was done, the piece was galvanized and finished to last outdoors. Made as part of Scotland’s pandemic memorial, The Ribbon shows the care and skill that went into turning an idea into a lasting sculpture.

Behind the Ribbon: See How the Project Took Shape

Offering a place to connect, to reflect and to create, Remembering Together is about creating collectively, being part of a process to commemorate those who have lost their lives, those who have experienced loss and change as well as celebrating the ways in which Scottish communities have come together during the most difficult times.

From August until December 2022 we visited a number of community groups from walking groups, youths groups, schools, dance groups or care homes to name a few. We tailored our activities we ran and the questions we asked to each group but overall our aim was to get to know people and understand how they experienced the Covid pandemic.

A vast range of ideas and themes were generated together with the people of West Lothian to create a memorial. These shared experiences show resilience, growth, learning and compassion from everyone in the community.

Two exhibitions marked significant milestones in the development of The Ribbon memorial — one held midway through the project, and the other closer to its completion.

“I Sit Here and Watch and Wait”, hosted at Linlithgow Burgh Halls, offered a moment of reflection during the early stages. It invited participants to engage with both collective and personal experiences of the pandemic. Through artwork, conversations, and shared stories, the exhibition created space for the community to pause, observe, and connect. It became a contemplative step on the path toward shaping The Ribbon.

Later in the project, “The Ribbon That Binds Us Together” was held at Howden Park Centre. This exhibition presented the final designs to the public, offering a first look at the co-created memorial and inviting feedback before its completion. It celebrated the culmination of years of collaboration and creativity across West Lothian.

Immerse yourself into the project by listening to our audio track:

This audio piece was created after doing a series of engagement workshops with people in West Lothian. Through informal discussions and more specific question we shared personal experiences, feelings and stories of the pandemic. This inspired us to create a ribbon sculpture where each plant and flower painted on the piece remind us of a memory or feeling from these workshops.

The collection of artworks on display sought to share collective and individual experiences of the pandemic through a diverse range of artworks and stories. The display included textiles, collages and photographs co-created by residents of West Lothian during phase one of the project with artist Marion Parola-Campbell of Bespoke Atelier.

The immersive space invited visitors to take a peaceful moment to reflect and share. We also revealed the site for phase 2 where we will create a permanent memorial space facing the Civic Centre in Livingston.

Collages co-created during a series of creative sessions with community groups from West Lothian.

Workshops In Schools

We are working with collage in our own practice and are involving the children of West Lothian to join us on our creative journey. We have sent the video-tutorial below to all the schools in West Lothian for them to create artworks with their pupils. We then hosted in-person workshops in a selection of schools. Many people shared with us that their safe space during the pandemic was their garden, we are therefore inviting the pupils to think about creating a dream garden using collage.

**“ I made a new discovery that the house is very not fun when you don’t get to go out of it. ”**
*P4 Pupil, Addiewell Primary School*

Walks

We organised a series of walks to hear everyone’s personal story during the Covid pandemic and brainstorm on what a memorial could be. During our walks we looked at the history, the nature, and existing public art in West Lothian. These events were an opportunity for us to chat to you about how the Covid pandemic has affected you and what kind of memorial we could create for the community of West Lothian.

In Person Digital Workshop

Using an iPad and the app ‘Moodboard’ we are guiding people in creating an imaginative collage representing their idea of a "safe space". Our app has lots of shapes people can use to create this digital collage. It is a very intuitive and easy platform to use, and are guiding the participants throughout the process. This workshop only takes a few minutes and the artwork you create is directly sent to your email/ phone.