To celebrate the launch of the Journey to Justice Exhibition in April 2017 at the National Museum of Justice, and in particular the story of Nottingham social reformer Samuel Morley and African American activist Josiah Henson, please join us for aseries of talks across the city of Nottingham.
Morley organized a series of ‘Penny Lectures’ in London during the nineteenth century to encourage people to enhance their education. Paying just a penny, these lectures were open to everyone. Inspired by Morley’s action, we have organised five lectures on issues both Morley and Henson were passionate about.
Please join Matthew Chesney, Director of BACKLIT Art Gallery, for an artist's talk on his 3D-sculpture of nineteenth century philanthropist Samuel Morley, at the National Museum of Justice.
Morley, an English woollen manufacturer, was a political radical, MP, abolitionist, and campaigner for worker’s rights. He introduced pensions and allowances for his workforce, and donated money to Nottingham Castle, the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and Morley College in London. He even refused a peerage from the Queen as he did not want to be ‘seen as above the people.’
A statue of Morley was produced after his death in 1888 by James Harvard Thomas and placed outside the Theatre Royal. Unfortunately, the memorial was deemed a traffic obstruction in 1927 and broken in transit on its way to the Arboretum.
Matthew will discuss his statue of the famous manufacturer, Morley's life, and his legacy in Nottingham.
As founder and director of BACKLIT Matthew is responsible for BACKLIT’s visual arts exhibition programming and the creative ethos which underpins the gallery. He founded Backlit immediately after graduating from Nottingham Trent University’s BA Fine Art course in 2008. His work as an artist is based around performance, video and sculpture with experimental configurations of people and technologies. He has worked internationally on projects and residencies in Japan, Germany and UK.
This event forms part of the 'Penny Lecture Series' in collaboration with the Univeristy of Nottingham, Backlit Art Gallery, and the National Justice Museum. Matthew Chesney (Director of BACKLIT) and Hannah-Rose Murray (PhD student, in the University of Nottingham) have curated a small exhibition to formerly enslaved African American Josiah Henson and his friend and benefactor, manufacturer and philanthropist Samuel Morley. Josiah Henson and Samuel Morley’s connected story represents the campaign for freedom, equality and human rights in Nottingham, and beyond.
Register free – morleyslegacy.eventbrite.co.uk