Events
The Socialist Cafe : Amber Films: The Mining Institute
This Event has passed
As Orwell was making his journey across the industrial North, in 1930s Newcastle the Socialist Café in the Royal Arcade became a meeting ground for the Left and all its factions. In the early 1980s Amber/Side Gallery interviewed veterans of Tynesides anti-war movement, Spanish Civil War volunteers, activists and campaigners T Dan Smith, Jack Johnson, Ken Skethaway and Mary Lowther of the famous Lowther family in Chopwell (Little Moscow) active during the 1926 General Strike.
Shown for the first time in public, these unedited original interviews are presented looped across six monitors. The installation explores the intersecting movements and debates in the Left, from the 1917 Russian Revolution and rise of the Soviet Union to the 1945 election of the Labour Party in Britain.
Supported by Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.
Please note that in addition to the weekly opening times this installation is closed 10 11 March.
