I Am a Man and a Brother: Re-interpreting Wedgwood’s Anti-Slavery Medallion

A collaborative research project contextualising a significant object in the V&A Wedgwood Collection

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About the Project

Supported by the Art Fund, I Am a Man and a Brother seeks to expand the narrative of the Wedgwood Anti-Slavery Medallion. Considering its creation, imagery and significance for today’s audiences, the project aims to rethink the medallion for the 21st century through events, displays and discussion.

Context

From 1787, Josiah Wedgwood produced ceramic tokens showing an enslaved man in chains with the words ‘Am I Not a Man and a Brother?’. As the global Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum in 2020, the team reflected on the interpretation of Wedgwood’s Anti-Slavery Medallion. Wedgwood was rightly but unquestioningly hailed as a prominent 18th-century voice in the campaign for the abolition of slavery. But whose voices were not heard? This collaborative project explores the production, imagery and context of the medallion through displays, events, digital content and academic discussion.

Aim

The project aims to explore the complex histories of the Anti-Slavery Medallion and to connect with artists, activists and young people to inspire discussion of its contemporary context and to provide more nuanced interpretation in all our V&A gallery displays and online. From the story of Wedgwood’s friend, abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, to the women whose boycotts and campaigns were pivotal to the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, this project sets the medallion in context as a protest symbol, one of many tools used during the long campaign in Britain to abolish the slave trade.

Outcomes

Permanent redisplay of the medallion at the V&A Wedgwood Collection co-curated with artists, activists and young people; school workshop programme with City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College; poetry commission 'Black Man Cast in Clay' by Gabriella Gay; display and trail at the V&A Wedgwood Collection, 2021-2; creation by Wedgwood of a limited edition ‘Medallion for the 21st Century’, based on a design by Amy Sproston, City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College, 2021; events, discussions and roundtables; learning resource for schools; online resources.

Project Outputs

Gabriella Gay: Black Man Cast in Clay

https://soundcloud.com/vamuseum/gabriella-gay-black-man-cast-in-clay

KS3 & 4 Learning Resource: I am a Man and a Brother

https://vanda-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/2023/07/18/16/06/08/ee683752-59ac-4163-a667-ca9519a08382/I%20am%20a%20man%20and%20a%20brother_A4_LANDSCAPE_%20student_AC.pdf

Article on the medallion: The Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion · V&A

https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-wedgwood-anti-slavery-medallion

Kate Turner: I am a man and a brother: allyship by design (blog post)

https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/i-am-a-man-and-a-brother-allyship-by-design

Kate Turner: Wedgwood’s abolition journey (blog post)

https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/wedgwoods-abolition-journey

Georgia Haseldine: Racist ceramics and fantasies of Blackness (blog post)

https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/racist-ceramics-and-fantasies-of-blackness

Display of work by Wedgwood Artist in Residence: Magdalene Odundo

https://www.wedgwood.com/en-gb/collections/collaborations/artist-in-residence-magdalene-odundo

Radical Objects: Josiah Wedgwood’s anti-slavery medallion

https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/slavery/radical-objects-wedgwoods-anti-slavery-medallion/

The Team

Catrin Jones

Chief Curator, V&A Wedgwood Collection

Catrin is Chief Curator of the V&A Wedgwood Collection, leading on strategy and programmes for the collection and site. Her past projects include the book 'Wedgwood: Craft and Design' and the major exhibition 'Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years'. Sh ... Read more

Kate Turner

Curator, V&A Wedgwood Collection

Kate is Curator of the V&A Wedgwood Collection, where she leads projects to enhance access to the collection. Formerly Director at Our Stories Heritage Consultancy where she developed and delivered public engagement projects. She is a Trustee of the N ... Read more

Georgia Haseldine

Senior Curator, V&A East Storehouse

From Sheffield and now based in East London, Georgia is an artist, public engagement specialist and currently Senior Curator of V&A East Storehouse. She is also Board Director of We Don't Settle and led the research project 'The Question of Clay' with ... Read more

Grace Barrett

Project Co-creator (External Partner)

Founder of All In (formerly I Am Ally), Grace is a musician, presenter, and author delivering anti-racism education & consultancy nationwide. The goal is a self-sufficiently safe, celebratory space for all. She’s excited to go All In with anyone who’s ... Read more

Gabriella Gay

Panel member and writer of Black Man Cast in Clay (External Partner)

Gabriella is a Trinidad-born poet & creative producer. Her PhD research at Keele University explores Staffordshire's Colonial Connections: Re-imaging Black voices from the archival debris. Founder of Stoke’s Roaming Poets & Kwanzaa Collective UK C.I.C ... Read more

Events

Empire Lines Podcast in Conversation

Join Jelena of Empire Lines, artist Chris Day and poet and creative producer Gabriella Gay for a live-recorded conversation about the Wedgwood Anti-Slavery Medallion.

In Conversation with Magdalene Odundo

Dame Magdalene Odundo in conversation with Catrin Jones, discussing The Falcon Cannot Hear the Falconer, the monumental centrepiece created during her residency with Wedgwood, inspired by Josiah Wedgwood’s letters with his friend, Olaudah Equiano.

Museum Late: I Am a Man and a Brother Launch

An evening to launch the permanent redisplay of the Wedgwood Anti-Slavery Medallion. Includes curator talks and a reading of Black Man Cast in Clay by Gabriella Gay.

VARI Roundtable: Representations of the Black Body

Hosted by the V&A Research Institute (VARI) and V&A Wedgwood Collection, the discussion focuses on deepening our understanding of and developing new ideas for displaying ceramic ‘blackamoor’ figures and representations of the African body.

Allyship in Schools: CPD for Teachers

Led by anti-racism teacher trainer Grace Barrett, this session invites local teachers to discuss the challenges and opportunities for allyship in educational institutions.

VARI Roundtable: Wedgwood’s Anti-Slavery Medallion

Bringing together a group of people to share their expertise in race and ceramics, and to reflect on how museums should represent the material cultures of the Black Atlantic and abolition today.

The I Am A Man and A Brother project was made possible with Art Fund support.

The I Am A Man and A Brother project was delivered in partnership with Fiskars, who provided materials and resources for the clay-based workshops and. In 2023 Fiskars generously produced a limited edition in jasper clay based on student Amy Sproston’s design for a new medallion for the 21st century in the Wedgwood factory, Barlaston.

Georgia’s research was supported by a post-doctoral research project ‘The Question of Clay’ was made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

British Ceramics Biennial partnered with the V&A Wedgwood Collection on events and hosted a workshop at the 2021 biennial.

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