Thousands of selfies help create mosaic of suffragette

An art installation marking 100 years since women were given the vote has been unveiled at Birmingham New Street station.

The floor-based artwork called "The Face of Suffrage" is made of a mosaic of more than 3,700 images of women from across the West Midlands and the UK.

The collage shows Hilda Burkitt, a leading face from the suffrage movement in the West Midlands.

It was created by artist Helen Marshall, of the People’s Picture, who has installed similar projects across Britain marking other historic occasions.

The railway from Birmingham was important in transporting people to London in support of the movement in the 1900s.

Now 170,000 passengers use Birmingham New Street every day and organisers say it’s large concourse provides an ideal space to host and view the art work.

Karen Hornby, from Network Rail said:

The woman pictured, Evelyn Hilda Burkitt, was born in Wolverhampton in 1876.

She was the first suffragette to be forcibly fed a total of 292 times and worked at the Birmingham WSPU (Women's Social and Political Union) headquarters, near New Street station.

The then Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith's boarded a train that pulled out of Birmingham New Street and Hilda threw a stone at the train.

She was imprisoned at Winson Green prison.

The artwork will be on display until Friday 14 December – the day which marks the 100th anniversary of women voting for the first time.