On a bright, cold Wednesday afternoon in New York, just south of Washington Square Park, a group of scholars, readers and students from across the city gathered at NYU’s Kimmel Windows to mark the opening of Orwell and Truth: the first exhibition of its kind, and one which brings to life Orwell’s enduring values—from bravery and integrity to fidelity to truth—through the story of his remarkable life.
The exhibition launch brought together Orwell’s family, his biographer D.J. Taylor, and institutional partners from two continents, including University College London, home of the UNESCO-registered Orwell Archive. For the next nine months, Orwell and Truth—which features reproductions of Orwell’s own manuscripts and diaries as well as photographs and analysis—will be on free public view along West 3rd Street and LaGuardia Place, open to anyone passing by.
Bringing Orwell to New York is only the beginning: we are also working to establish an annual lecture, an Orwell Prize open to journalists based in the US, and associated projects that harness the authority and ambition this moment demands.
With the support of donors across North America, we need to raise $1m each year to continue our existing work and to expand our prizes and events. If this exhibition, and the values behind it, matter to you, please consider supporting us. You can find out more about how to donate from the US here.
Orwell and Truth traces Orwell's life from the family he described as 'lower-upper-middle class' through to his death from tuberculosis in 1950 and his astonishing legacy. Its ambition is not simply commemorative. Rather, each vitrine asks visitors to follow the making of a moral sensibility: to understand where, when, and how Orwell developed the values that made his work both singular and enduring.
Though it was in the 1930s and 1940s that Orwell warned about the dangers of unchecked power and excessive limits on freedom of expression, we believe that the enduring relevance of his values, and the importance he attached to truth, demand the forensic attention of us all today.
The partnership between The Orwell Foundation, UCL, and NYU brought this exhibition into being and reflects a shared conviction that Orwell's work belongs to a global conversation.
Many Americans encountered Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm in school: Orwell and Truth invites them to go further, into the journalism, the diaries, the letters, and the less celebrated novels that reveal how Orwell's views were formed, examining where, when and how Orwell developed the interests, experiences, and characteristics that made him the most exceptional of writers.
The Kimmel Windows are publicly accessible from the street with no ticket, no booking required. Orwell and Truth will be on display until December 2026. Wherever you are, we invite you to engage with the questions Orwell’s work raises—about truth, about power, about the moral power of language and the dangers of its corruption—and to support our work in keeping that legacy alive.
The Orwell Foundation is the registered charity authorised by the Orwell Estate to champion brave, clear writing and the values—decency, integrity, fidelity to truth—that defined Orwell’s life and work. We do this through the prestigious Orwell Prizes, a programme of events and exhibitions, and our Youth Prize, which encourages young people to think critically and write clearly. Find out more at www.orwellfoundation.com
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