GEORGE ORWELL

SUNDERLAND SOLIDARITY in conversation with artist Rob MacDonald

/ Alikivi

55 year old artist and stonemason Rob MacDonald originally from Rugby in the Midlands has lived in Catalonia, Spain for the last 15 years working on community art installations. His latest project is in Sunderland.

About 10 years ago I came across a story about International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) who came from the UK. It was really interesting especially finding a guy who was on a ship coming from the UK with the same name as me. It piqued my interest so at first I decided I was going to make a sculpture of this guy explained Rob.

Rob in Sunderland City Hall with brochure of the monument in Catalonia, Spain. (pic. Alikivi Sept 2025)

I’d already worked on a few projects and exhibitions in Barcelona so I met with local contacts Alan Warren and Sonia Garangou, teachers and lead historian on the Ciudad de Barcelona. Together we developed a community art history project in the coastal town of Malgrat de mar 40 miles north of Barcelona.  

As we talked about the history it became obvious that this wasn’t just about Rob McDonald on that ship it was about all of the International Brigade volunteers and how it related to politics and fascism today. We agreed that it needed to be a community led project because the memory of the Spanish Civil War is a sensitive issue. We didn’t want to go off and just make something ourselves.

The big question about it in Spain is the historic memory, the political left want to talk about it, republicans want to talk about it, but there are questions remaining like where are the unmarked graves? In Catalonia they realise how important the International Brigade volunteers were. In the end the backbone of the idea was to build a monument.

The first monument was opened on May 30th 2022 at Malgrat de mar. It is actively being added to every year, it’s a living monument. When working on it the figures were made in a series of workshops with local people. Some worked on them for 2 minutes others stayed for over an hour as I told them about the stories. I also went into schools and the students took away the information and learned more about the International Brigades.

There are loads of levels to the project – art projects, exhibitions and performances. It’s been really successful. Also, every year in May there is an event held at the monument where the Mayor and all the dignitaries of the town attend. All political parties support the project. There is a broad support, the first 30,000 euros for this monument were crowd funded.

Now we are based in Sunderland college. I have found a lot of pride here, people get behind the area, not just the football team but the shipbuilding history.

Normally around towns you see monuments of kings and queens and people you don’t know. But it isn’t working class history the sculpture is not done by the people and the community are never asked. It gets decided by someone in an office somewhere. The community don’t engage with it. The participation living monument is about community engagement. That is what we are interested in.

I’ve talked to people about working class struggle and the arts. We built up this idea that monuments and public spaces are part of the struggle for working class people’s dignity, history and rights – it’s all tied together. And the symbolism of sculpture is important because it talks to the community about who they are and who they are not.

Sunderland City Hall (pic Alikivi Sept 2025)

There are amazing stories of Sunderland being involved in the International Brigades. One ship bound for Spain in the civil war had on board two unemployed shipworkers from the city. Some of the ships were built here and the captains were from the city. There were men from here who risked their lives to help feed people in a foreign conflict.

Part of the project is not only to expose the history but find it as well because people from the city will be related to some of the Brigade volunteers. We need to build up those connections.

We are at a critical point in the project we are networking with people to make this monument happen. It’s important that people are involved in the process of making it. We are in talks with Culture and local Council – organisations we are looking to partner with and make links to get support.

There are a couple of areas where we would like for a monument – Mowbray and Barnes Park are nice and this new development down here (we are in City Hall) but there may be other suggestions.

The history of the Brigades might be tucked away in a cupboard here in the City Hall when really it should be in an exhibition for the community to see. You know they were brave people, heroes really, and this is an important part of social history that needs to be told.

Alikivi    September 2025

For more information contact >>> https://solidaritypark.com/solidarity-sunderland/

Solidarity Sunderland

BLUE PLAQUE FOR EILEEN O’SHAUGHNESSY (1905-45)

/ Alikivi

The Word is a recent addition to the landscape of South Shields, a new cultural centre and library that was an appropriate venue for the start of a weekend of events to celebrate the life of South Shields born Eileen O’Shaughnessy.

Education was a big part of Eileen’s life her mother Marie had a teaching background and Eileen attended Sunderland Church High school where she was awarded a bursary to St Hugh’s College, Oxford.

It was 2012 when I first came across Eileen and March 2014 when the resultant documentary Wildflower was first shown in South Shields with Richard Blair and Quentin Kopp making the journey up the M1 to watch the film about Richard’s mother, and wife of author George Orwell (real name Eric Arthur Blair).

In 2018 a flurry of activity surrounded the story of Eileen – plans were made to publish the book by Canadian author Sylvia Topp and a nomination for a blue plaque in the town was proposed.

With the Orwell Society (OS) driving the project forward, South Tyneside Council agreed to the proposal and to get the ball rolling I added the local link.

Dave Harland is owner of 35 Beach Road, Eileen’s childhood home. I first met Dave in 2012 when we arranged to film in his house, he knew about the O’Shaughnessy family being previous owners making him a valuable addition to the documentary.

Newspaper cutting from The Shields Gazette, August 2002.

20 years ago local journalist Janis Blower told Dave about the previous owners and the article featured in a Shields Gazette double page spread (7 August 2002).

“It’s a lovely old house and there are lots of original features we have tried to keep. I believe the house dates back to the end of the 19th century” said Dave.

I popped in to see him and suggest the idea of a plaque, of course he was thrilled about the news and had no objections “a plaque is a marvellous idea, absolutely wonderful”.

With this news the OS steamed ahead with the nomination and planned an event in March 2020, which would have been the 75th anniversary of Eileen’s death. But when covid brought lockdown in the UK, the pandemic scuppered plans.

‘The Round’ room ready for the celebratory event of Orwell Society talks & film in The Word (pic Alikivi collection).

We finally got to meet up at The Word on Saturday 26 March 2022 and planted a flag for Eileen.

Led by the OS Chair Quentin Kopp, Patron Richard Blair (Orwell’s son) with around 30 members of the society from all parts of the UK including Richard Young from Epsom, Stephen and Margaret Ingle from Dunblane, Richard Keeble and Mariline from Lincoln, John Lloyd and Helen Davies from ‘a small town near Hereford’ plus special guest for the day, South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck.

In the large circular top floor room a screening of the documentary Wildflower was followed by a Q&A with Quentin Kopp and author Sylvia Topp, Tom Kelly read his poem ‘You, you, you’ then Richard explained the mission of the Orwell Society and his father’s legacy.

The Orwell Society in King Street, South Shields 26/3/2022 outside building where Laurence O’Shaughnessy worked as Customs Collector (pic. Alikivi collection).

Afterwards we walked over to The Customs House and King Street where Eileen’s father Laurence worked then went to her birthplace on Lawe Road 10 minutes away. Unfortunately the house is covered in scaffolding and hollowed out with only the front façade left.

Our MP Emma Lewell-Buck has raised this in the House of Commons and we are looking to work with South Tyneside Council to resolve this issue.

Outside Westgate House, Beach Road, South Shields 27/3/2022 l-r Quentin Kopp, Mayor Pat Hay, Richard Blair, Mayoress Jean Copp, Dave Harland, Gary Wilkinson (Alikivi) Sylvia Topp. pic. courtesy Shields Gazette.

On a bright blue Sunday morning in Beach Road, Dave Harland welcomed into his front garden the OS plus Mayor Pat Hay to unveil the blue plaque.

“It was a real honour to unveil a special blue plaque in tribute to a little-known local woman who shaped and supported one of the greatest writers of the 20th century”.

“George Orwell wrote masterpieces but Eileen’s influence over him and the impact she had on his creative writing is often overlooked. There’s no doubt she was a guiding force in his life”.

Quentin Kopp added “I’m delighted that after the enforced two year delay Eileen has been given great recognition at her family home”.

Richard Blair at his mothers grave St Andrews Cemetery, Jesmond 27/3/2022. (pic Alikivi collection)

Finally an emotional journey to St Andrews Cemetery, Jesmond, and the grave of Eileen Maud Blair. Kept in immaculate condition, OS member Brian Thompson from Newcastle regularly tends to the grave planting flowers and uses hand scissors to keep the grass trim, he also arranged for a small plaque to be added near the headstone.

For his work tending to his mother’s grave, Richard thanked Brian with a gift of a hardback graphic novel of 1984, I was also pleased to receive a copy of Animal Farm “for all the hard work you’ve put in recording my mothers life in South Shields” said Richard.

Richard Blair presenting gift to Gary Wilkinson (Alikivi) at his mothers grave St Andrews Cemetery, Jesmond 27/3/2022 (pic Brian Thompson, OS member).

He finally added “My mother played a vital role in Orwell’s life, not just as a supporter, but at times, when he had bouts of illness, a carer, and also as a creative inspiration. I am thrilled that we are finally able to celebrate the life of my mother in this way.”

Link to the film ‘Wildflower’  

George Orwell’s first wife, South Shields born Eileen O’Shaughnessy (Alikivi, 11mins edit) – YouTube

To find out more information and how to join The Orwell Society check the official website: www.orwellsociety.com

Alikivi  March 2022.

LOOKING FOR ERIC – with Richard Blair, Patron of The Orwell Society

/ Alikivi

In March 2015 The Orwell Society visited South Shields to watch ‘Wildflower’ the documentary I made about South Shields born Eileen O’Shaughnessy, George Orwell’s first wife.

We also visited St Andrews’s Cemetery, Newcastle, where Eileen was buried in 1945.

In March 2020 another visit from the OS was planned but unfortunately cancelled due to the pandemic. The itinerary included another screening of ‘Wildflower’ along with unveiling a blue plaque to Eileen who was born in 1905. Hopefully we can reschedule a visit later in the year.

Richard Blair is the adopted son of Eileen O’Shaughnessy, and George Orwell – real name Eric Blair – who was author of many books including Homage to Catalonia, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four.

In 2012 I was researching the life of Eileen in the University College London where the Orwell archive is held, and through a connection there I got in touch with Richard.

He kindly invited me down to his home in Warwickshire where we filmed a piece for the documentary.

The day went well and in earlier posts (links below) I talked about the ease in which the documentary came together and how each contact led to another clue in looking for Eileen.

November 2012 I was in Barcelona Airport with a camera in my backpack thinking, what led me here ? It seemed so effortless. Eileen and George where involved in the Spanish Civil War and I wanted to film a sequence of that part of their life.

I searched for a contact who could add that piece, I found Civil War historian Alan Warren who was based in Barcelona. We arranged to meet and filming took place in Los Caracoles, a restaurant just off Las Ramblas. A place that Eileen and friends often visited.

Earlier this year I was watching a travel programme about Spain when Richard popped up on screen, I asked him how did that come about ?

Richard Blair

I was asked by Michael Portillo’s TV production company if I would appear with him out in Spain on the Aragon front between Zaragoza and Huesca where both our fathers fought in the Spanish Civil War.

For Michael this was a personal pilgrimage as his father was a Republican and so was fighting on the same side as my father and in relative close proximity to each other, so Michael was very admiring of Orwell and wanted to meet me and talk about the circumstances.

We met in the trenches overlooking Huesca and he wanted to know about my father and how he sustained his injury. It was a very personal interview and he did say that it was one of his high lights of his railway programmes.

I watched ‘Nineteen Eight Four’ at Newcastle Playhouse around 2002 – do many theatre organisations request to stage a play based on Orwell writing and have any TV companies made a similar request ?

There are always requests from theatres to do one or the other of the two ‘main books’ and I daresay they will continue, except that there will be no further copyright to contend with after 31st December.

There have also been many requests to do films and for all sorts of reason they wither on the vine. There was a very successful play by Icke and MacMillan that started in Nottingham about 2014/5 and went round the country twice including the West End.

It then went abroad and also ended up on Broadway. I had the privilege to attend the opening night. Come to think of it I and many of our Orwell Society members have seen several small productions of Nineteen Eighty Four.

How is the Orwell Society set up ?

The set-up is a member’s society with a small group of Trustees (8) to run and oversee the day to day and long-term plans. The Trustees are strictly non-political and allows members to express themselves as one would expect in a democracy.

However blatant extremism that causes offence or is illegal to the members is not tolerated and the Trustees can remove the membership from that person, should they refuse to recant.

What is the aim of The Orwell Society ?

The aim of the Orwell Society is to promote the works of George Orwell, through several ways; through the website with information; through organised events, which allows us, the members to meet up at numerous places that Orwell visited or lived (present problems not withstanding); through media channels such as Facebook and Twitter; and organised monthly ‘Orwell Talks’ via Zoom, introduced recently.

We also promote, as part of our charity obligations, contact with schools to encourage writing and hopefully (when we can start again) visits through their teachers and it is to them that we award bursaries. In other words get the word of Orwell out into the public domain.

Have you seen an uptake in the writing of George Orwell ?

There has always been an interest in Orwell and the society has been proactive in its promotion of his works. We do this in conjunction with the Orwell Foundation and Youth Prize. An organisation that has been running in its present form for some 15/20 years and was born of Bernard Cricks Orwell Awards set up in the late eighties.

It is run by Trustees but is not a membership organisation. It oversees all the Orwell Awards for writing and journalism, and it also runs the mainstream school’s youth prize (there were some 1200 entries this last year).

The OS runs in parallel with the OF and the OYP, but does not overlap, but we do cooperate wherever possible. The society membership is running at about 300 members and fluctuates up and down, but mostly up.

Since the society began, have you found anything unusual, interesting or unexpected ?

I think the outstanding feature of the Orwell Society is how friendly we all are. New members are very soon sucked into the animated flow of conversations when they meet older members.

I also think we do an enormous amount of activities (sadly curtailed) organised by Quentin Kopp, our organiser and acting Chairman.

Orwell lived in many places, which gives the opportunity to go and see them; from Scotland to London, to Paris, to Spain and many other places. Some still to be explored like Morocco and Burma.

Looking back on your father’s life what do you think about so much of it being documented and what do you feel about his work?

I suppose the short answer to that question is that over the decades he has become one of the more significant writers of the 20th century and yet his relevance has gained more and more traction and continues to resonate to this day.

Interview by Alikivi   December 2020.

For more info about the Orwell Society go to the official website:

The Orwell Society – Promoting the understanding and appreciation of the life and works of George Orwell

Links to research & documentary:

WILDFLOWER – South Shields born Eileen O’Shaughnessy 1905-45 timeline. | ALIKIVI (garyalikivi.com)

WILDFLOWER – documentary about George Orwell’s wife, South Shields born Eileen O’Shaughnessy | ALIKIVI (garyalikivi.com)   plus DVD trailer.