Ruth Ewan's The Dagenham Agates Commemorate Ford Sewing Machinists' Equal Pay Fight

Artist Ruth Ewan will unveil The Dagenham Agates on June 23rd in Dagenham, a permanent public artwork honoring the Ford sewing machinists whose strikes led to the Equal Pay Act 1970. The installation comprises two 2.1-meter-tall sculptures on Chequers Lane, near the original Ford factory picket line. Commissioned by Peabody and The Hill Group, curated by UP Projects, it is the first commission on a new heritage trail across Dagenham Green. The sculptures are made from Fordite (Dagenham Agate), a by-product of automotive paint layers. Dagenham Agate (1968) has 187 layers representing the 187 women who walked out in June 1968; Dagenham Agate (1984–85) has 150 layers for the later strike. The works were created collaboratively with 187 local participants, mostly women, who painted layers using car paint colors from the strike periods. The unveiling is complemented by the exhibition Materiality of Memory at the Women's Museum in Barking, running until December 12, 2026, featuring Ewan's archival project Always Something There to Remind Me, including newspaper cuttings, a letter to Prime Minister Harold Wilson, raw Fordite, and factory objects. Ewan is based in Glasgow and has shown at Tate Britain, New Museum, and São Paulo Biennial. UP Projects is the UK's leading public art organization specializing in socially engaged commissioning.