Michael OBrien Documentary

We are working with filmmaker Alex J. Wright to create a documentary on master potter Michael O'Brien, whose extraordinary life and work has spanned continents, cultures, and generations.

This film will be the first to tell Michael’s full story. A close collaborator of Michael Cardew, whom he succeeded at the Abuja Pottery in Nigeria in 1965, he has played an essential role in shaping the landscape of modern British and Nigerian ceramics. While less widely known than some of his contemporaries, his influence is far-reaching, inspiring and mentoring a generation of renowned potters including Magdalene Odundo, Ladi Kwali, Danlami Aliyu, Stephen Muya, Phillip Wood, and William Plumptre, among others.

Now aged 95, Michael is one of the few surviving artists of the Studio Pottery Movement in the UK and continues to make pots with the same clarity and integrity that have defined his life's work. A quiet pioneer, he is ­carrying out groundbreaking research, inventing glazes which use materials indigenous to Nigeria. These glazes have the potential to transform the viability of the Cardew legacy of glazed pottery in West Africa, making it more economical, self-sufficient, and environmentally sustainable.

We hope you will consider supporting this vital project and help us honour the life and work of this remarkable artist.