They gathered at the location of the substation in September 1942 to make the pledge that 'Lidice shall live'. Lidice was eventually rebuilt. The sculpture is dedicated to unearthing the story of Stoke-on-Trent’s unique relationship with the village. The artists asked the people of Stoke-on-Trent (and across the globe) to make a promise to share the story of Lidice with two people. In return they got their own giant miners tag on the sculpture. Miners tags were small, dog-tag like objects that were used in mines to identify who was in the mine at any given time, like a metal clocking-in system. The reaction the artists got from their promise makers was inspiring. Thousands of people had connected with the story, with their community and art.

The resulting sculpture, 'Unearthed', is an abstract sculpture, made up of straight and swooping walls of tags that can all be seen from ground level. The sizes and finishes of the tags run in layers, following the upward motion of the piece, as if projecting out of the ground – suggesting that the sculpture, as well as the story, is being unearthed. Planted on site in February 2018, is also a pear tree grafted from the single living thing that survived the Lidice atrocity. It is commemorated as a gift of friendship from the Bohemian villagers in recognition of the 'Lidice Shall Live' international fundraising campaign conceived in Stoke-on-Trent. The tree is known as 'The Messenger of Hope'.