Artists from Somerset and London communicated the stark and often hidden nature of modern slavery through unexpected and original mediums.
For Anti-Slavery Day, Taunton Minster hosted an art exhibition with the hope of using art to convey the horror of human trafficking, forced labour, and exploitation.
Slavery Salad
London-based artist, Jo Pearl is a campaigning ceramic sculptor and film-maker. In Slavery Salad, she creates a glossy feast of food that is often bought in our weekly supermarket shop, but shockingly has been produced in the UK using slave labour. The piece is inspired by 16th Century Palissy ware press-moulded ceramics which are famous for presenting luscious nature-based still lives on a traditional ceramic platter. Slavery Salad challenges the viewer to question what is the human cost of the food we eat? It reflects on the seductive nature of consumerism that belies the hidden methods of a supply chain pressured to produce ever cheaper food, ignoring the cost to human dignity.
Jo Pearl explains: “The pressure to supply cheap goods, means companies look the other way when agencies send them inexpensive, submissive, often non-English speaking workers. These are some of the tell-tale signs that employers need to look out for if they don’t want their products tainted by the scourge of modern slavery. Brexit has exacerbated this problem with fewer foreign workers available but business crying out for labourers. Victims of modern slavery are invariably in fear of their lives from those who lured them to this country with the promise of good work, and then demand that they pay back the cost of flights, accommodation, use of tools – with vastly inflated rates, and despicably low rates of pay. Victims of debt bondage slip ever deeper into debt, while attempts to flee or argue back are met with violence – or threats of violence to family back home. It is a sorry tale. And a blight on the way we consume.
“But once you know you can’t un-know. Next time you put a bargain in your supermarket basket – ask yourself, “Are you being charged a fair price? Who is paying the price so you can have a bargain?”
Jopearl.com
Instagram: @jopearlceramics
Kathy Archibold is a London based Fine Art graduate working in painting, illustration and photography.
In her piece (above) she uses popular images and lyrics to illustrate some of the more well-known forms of modern-day slavery. She wanted to convey some of the mental pressures, belittling language and phrases attached to exploitation and its ensuing coercive control and shattered morale.
Kathy explains: “I used a Van Gogh style moon and a representation of Munch’s “The scream’ as a recognisable universal depiction of alienation and despair. The phrase “Everybody knows your name” as an expression of popularity becomes “Nobody knows your real name” meaning quite the reverse.
“Dolly Parton’s “Nine to Five” song about everyday working monotony is turned into the far more extreme “Working “Five (am) to Nine(pm)” representing the relentlessness of slavery conditions.
“The Arctic Monkey’s song “I bet you look good on the dance floor” – (intended as a complement to a girl) becomes “I bet you look good in a nail bar” – a belittling and objectifying statement of worthlessness and exploitation.
Artist’s Site: https://www.redbubble.com/peop... | Artist’s Email: kathyarchbold@gmail.com
Students from West Somerset College made the designs above to highlight the issue of modern slavery in the fashion supply chain.
Art by Phoenix
