A life-size figure of a suffragette made from Lego has gone on display at UCL.
Hope the suffragette is a 5ft6 (1.7m) model, built from 32,327 Lego bricks, originally created in 2018 and displayed in the House of Commons to mark 100 years since (some) women got the right to vote.
Now Hope's at UCL to act as the mascot for the university's Stand With Hope campaign, to get people discussing the gender inequalities which still exist today, and to raise awareness of UCL's research into the issue.
The campaign comes ahead of Women's History Month in March, and International Women's Day on 8 March, and consists of several events on the topic — including the creation of an alternative map of the London Underground celebrating remarkable female and non-binary Londoners.
An exhibition is located alongside Hope, celebrating figures who have advocated for diversity in the past.
People are encouraged to take pictures with Hope (use the hashtag #StandWithHope if posting on social media), and share their stories and views on suffrage, inequalities and what needs to change.
UCL is an apt place for Hope to spend a couple of weeks — it was the first institution in England to welcome women to university education, with the first degrees awarded to women in 1878.
Hope the Lego Suffragette is on display in the foyer of the UCL Student Centre on Gordon Street, from 14 February to 7 March 2022. Find out more about Hope.
