The Winston Smith Library of Victory and Truth

Exhibition Launch Event
Tuesday, January 28, 2025 - 16:00

Join The University of Stirling Art Collection, CRISP and artist Hans K Clausen to celebrate the formal opening of the Winston Smith Library of Victory and Truth, a temporary installation in the University of Stirling Library.

A visual art installation, a sculpture, a library, a museum, a curiosity, a venue, consisting solely of one novel, 1,984 copies of George Orwell’s iconic novel1984, donated and sourced from around the world. ‘The Library’ forms a living, touring artwork and a forum for creativity, curiosity and conversation.

We'll be meeting from 4pm to hear a bit about the artwork, and how it fits within it's temporary home at the University Library and have a chance to come together to view this thought-provoking installation. Speakers include: Professor Sir Gerry McCormac, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Stirling; Professor William Webster, Director of CRISP; Jenni Brotchie from the Information Commissioners Office; Quentin Kopp, Chair of the Orwell Society and Hans K Clausen, the artist who created the exhibition.

All are welcome, light refreshments will be provided.

This is a collaborative exhibition between the University of Stirling Art Collection and the Centre for Research into Information, Surveillance and Privacy (CRISP). While the exhibition is on, there will be a series of events relating to 1984, please keep an eye on the website for more details.

You can reserve a place at the launch event here

Speaker bios

Professor Sir Gerry McCormac

Professor Sir Gerry McCormac has been Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Stirling since May 2010.  During this time, he has overseen a significant improvement in Stirling’s research and international presence and led the regeneration and development of the University estate.

Professor William Webster

William Webster is Professor of Public Policy and Management at the Stirling Management School, University of Stirling. He is a Director of CRISP (the Centre for Research into Information Surveillance and Privacy), a research centre dedicated to the responsible use of new digital technologies and understanding the social impacts and consequences of technologically mediated surveillance. Professor Webster has research expertise in the policy processes, regulation and governance of CCTV, surveillance in everyday life, privacy and surveillance ethics, as well as public policy and service delivery relating to data protection, eGovernment, and electronic public services.

Hans K Clausen

Hans K Clausen is an artist who is interested in the ‘thingness’ of things; in the visual vocabularies, narrative qualities and emotive associations of ubiquitous objects. The interaction between people and their material culture is a recurring area of enquiry in his work; how we look, how we read visual language, how we make sense of our material world and how the stuff that surrounds us becomes us. He is the creator of the Winston Smith Library of Victory and Truth.

Jenny Brotchie

Jenny Brotchie is Head of Scottish Affairs (acting), Information Commissioners Office, the regulatory body responsible for data protection in the UK. She has previously worked with Carnegie UK and the Sustainable Scotland Network.

Quentin Kopp

Quentin Kopp is Chair of The Orwell Society and also of Pollywood Ltd, a business innovating in the use of wood for structural applications Quentin is the son of Georges Kopp, Orwell’s Commander in the Spanish Civil War and lifelong friend. Quentin’s career includes leading large businesses for Coats-Viyella, when it was a FTSE 100 company and as a freelance consultant working with major UK and international businesses. For more than 20 years he was a visiting lecturer at Warwick Manufacturing, Warwick University focusing on Leadership, Change Management, and Entrepreneurialism.

Further information about the Winston Smith Library of Victory and Truth can be found here

Further information about the Orwell Society can be found here