Work to start on Spanish Civil War memorial
Sunderland CollegeA monument to volunteers who fought against fascism in the Spanish Civil War will begin taking shape next month.
About 20 people from Roker, Millfield, Southwick and other parts of Sunderland are believed to have travelled to Spain to fight against the right-wing nationalists.
Artist Rob MacDonald hopes people living in the city will get involved in making the first cobbles for the foundation of an artwork honouring them.
People will have the chance to carve the blocks at two events in March and July, with more to be held across the city later, and MacDonald said he hoped about 200 cobbles would be made over the year.
"We're starting to build a monument from the community up," the artist said.
The Spanish Civil War was fought between 1936 and 1939 between General Franco's nationalists and left-wing republicans.
SuppliedThe campaign to build a monument to the volunteers has been under way for about a year.
The project is linked to a "living monument" MacDonald made in Spain in 2016.
Four student artworks are carved in the sculpture every year, with "at least one" created by Sunderland students due to be added this year.
Solidarity ParkWhile there is no official design or planning application submitted for the Sunderland monument yet, MacDonald said it was time to start making the base of the artwork and involve more people in the project.
He said he wanted to design the memorial alongside the local community, including students.
"It feels right that we involve the community first and then we start to plan," he said.
"The real germ of the idea is that the community is deeply involved and deeply participatory and that people get a chance to learn the history before we build it."
