I'm excited. An invitation for us to speak at the Powerhouse Museum about personal favourites.

Righto.  Diaries out.  

On Father's Day, Sunday the 6th of September, Edward and I have been invited to deliver a talk at the Powerhouse Museum as part of the Talks Afternoon series. 2pm in the Target Theatre.

Six sets of Fathers and children are going to present a talk on their personal favourite parts of the Museum.  Be it a collection item, space, activity or whatever. It's "What do you love about the Powerhouse Museum?"

It'll be fun.

Edward will choose five things to talk about.  I'll choose five things.

Originally it was thought the format would be a pecha kucha, which would have made it 20 slides with 20 seconds of narration each.  Now the presentation format has been slightly altered to permit each family use of as many slides as they wish with a suggested minimum of 20 and to show for 10 minutes.

6 teams.  10 minutes each.  That'll  be a one hour show.

Edward is very excited about the project.  He's working on his favourites list.  So am I.

I think that the theme I'll project for my part of the talk will be that the museum's holdings are so broad that it is truly a museum for all people.  No matter what your interest, there is something there for you.  That idea and a couple of other things.

The first favourite I have is a small ceramic medallion made by  Josiah Wedgwood's pottery works.  It was made in around 1787 to promote the abolition of the slave trade.

The motto around the edge is "AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER?" which was used in the campaign for the abolition of the slave trade.

Incongruously, even though it is currently on display in the Inspired! Design across time. semi-permanent exhibition, the online collection record says little about it.

The medallion is small.  Height 30mm, width 27mm, depth 3mm.

There's some slight confusion about the dating of the item, with the online collection record stating circa 1787, and the curatorial display plaque giving about 1840.

But it is a very powerful piece of iconography and represents one of the most important human rights movements of the past 300 years. Josiah Wedgwood was one of the most prominant industrialists of his time and his support was very important for the cause.  His inimitable ceramics were already fashionable in the period and this medallion was perhaps the first time a fashion item could be and was worn as a political statment. 

The image of a manacled black man in supplication was not however popular with all.

I'm going to make some more blog posts about this project over the next couple of months under the blog category Talks Afternoon. 

Comments

[Nico]

I can't tell you how proud I am for you speaking at one of my most beloved museum!
And the topic also makes me proud... but I have to tell you, unfortunately I might not be able to show up!

[Paula Bray]

We are really looking forward to having you speak at the Musum.

[Janson Hews]

There is some great background on Wedgwood's 'slave medallion'and other key objects of the abolitionist campaign at the V&A's Images of Slavery & Abolitionism. This forms part of their Hidden Histories: Africa initiative. http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/hiddenhistories/stories_themes_africa/slaveryabolitionism/index.html

[Bob Meade]

Thanks Janson - I had not seen that V&A page. Very informative. Their example of the medallion is a fine one too, interestingly bordered in a gold coloured metal with what seems to be a fill-in around the ridged ceramic edge of the medallion. I wonder if it's an "after market" addition since the border does not appear in the two examples I've referenced.
See my other notes here:
http://lifeasdaddy.typepad.com/lifeasdaddy/2009/07/powerhouse-museum-favourites-part-2-more-on-the-slave-medallion.html

[Ali Gordon]

Super exciting! I can't wait to see what you and your son decide on...