International Workers  Mural  – 2 central panels exhibited in Eastbourne

If you’ve been following the radical history of Eastbourne then you will know about the International Workers Mural or “The Forward March of Labour” that used to be displayed in the reception of Unite the union’s Eastbourne Centre (formerly the Transport and General Workers Union Recuperation Hotel and Education Centre, and now The View Hotel Eastbourne).

This 89ft mural was removed 10 years ago during refurbishments when the hotel was being rebranded for tourism. It is now being stored in boxes in Birmingham.

There has been a long (as yet unsuccessful) campaign for the mural to be displayed again, in full, in Eastbourne. Hopefully at a permanent site. This is, of course, a huge ask, considering a huge site would need to be found. An associated idea was to find a storage home for the mural  in Eastbourne, thus making it convenient for the various panels, at various times, to be exhibited as and when a suitable event was happening.  Again, no suitable local  storage could be identified.

But all is not lost. The mural’s 2 central panels have found their way from Birmingham and are currently being exhibited at the Sussex Modernism Exhibition at Towner Eastbourne Gallery (until 28th September). The exhibition is curated by Dr Hope Wolf. It is well worth a visit; some of us have been several times as there is so much to see. This is a ticketed exhibition. Hopefully, enough of you will be able to visit.

Thank you to Hope for including the 2 mural panels in the exhibition, and also in her book, Sussex Modernism – Yale University Press London.

Hopefully, perhaps new life might be breathed into the People’s Eastbourne and Engels in Eastbourne Campaign to bring the mural back.

• More about the mural and a brochure of the 14 panels can be found here, along with the artist’s notes.
• Details of Sussex Modernism exhibition here.
• Video of a Poetry Club poem inspired by the mural here.
• People’s Eastbourne website here.
• Any questions? Please contact me at: hello@peopleseastbourne.com

Carol Mills

Engels in Eastbourne

People’s Eastbourne