Orwell’s ‘1984’ & Its Continuing Relevance Today
75 years after publication, an art installation explores its legacy
George Orwell’s iconic novel ‘1984’ was published in June 1949. So, 2024 marks 75 years since its publication. Orwell wrote the book on Jura, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides, between 1946 and 1948, while struggling with health issues. The title is a twist on the year he completed it.
At that time, he was living in a cottage with no heating or hot water, but it was a welcome escape from his busy life in London, where relentless demands on his time meant he couldn’t concentrate on writing the book.
His ailing health turned out to be tuberculosis. He was admitted to Hairmyres Hospital near Glasgow on Christmas Eve 1947, and was successfully treated with a new drug called streptomycin, until he became allergic to it.
He pursued alternative treatments with some success, but complications eventually led to his passing, just seven months after the book was published.
This year, Edinburgh-based artist Hans K Clausen marked the anniversary of the book’s publication by collecting 1,984 copies of George Orwell’s 1984 for an exhibition entitled: ‘The Winston Smith Library Of Victory and Truth’.
