Museum developments
Jesse Jackson, watched closely by the media, on a visit to the International Slavery Museum. Photograph © Simon Webb
The former Transatlantic Slavery gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum is now closed and has been replaced by a new museum on the third floor of the same building. This expansion is just the first phase of a brand new development, the International Slavery Museum.
The opening of phase 1, the exhibition galleries, took place on 23rd August 2007 - international Slavery Remembrance Day. The date was also significant because 2007 was the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain, and the city of Liverpool's 800th birthday.
Read the transcript of National Museums Liverpool director David Fleming's speech at the dinner to celebrate the opening of the International Slavery Museum on 22 August 2007.
On 24 January 2007 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced a £500,000 capital grant for the museum. This funding builds on the £250,000 annual revenue funding which the DCMS has already pledged. Culture Minister David Lammy said:
"It is right that we help National Museums Liverpool develop the new International Slavery Museum. It will provide a legacy to last way beyond this year’s bicentenary. This year provides the perfect opportunity for the ISM to take its stories to a new generation of visitors to the museum in this fantastic city. And I hope people will be encouraged to remember those who suffered as a result of the slave trade, and to celebrate the efforts of all those who struggled for its abolition. I look forward to the opening on 23 August."
On 5 October 2005 the Heritage Lottery Fund announced funding of £1.65 million towards the first phase of the project. HLF's Regional Manager Tony Jones said,
"Not everyone is aware that the slave trade had an important role in shaping many aspects of our lives and cities today. This is of special importance in Liverpool and one which will be of interest to everyone living in, and visiting the city. This project will help to shed light on this very important part of history and allow a wide number of people to discover it and understand it for themselves."
The International Slavery Museum has received grants and donations from a number of public and private sources, however your support is still needed. Donations can be made now through our International Slavery Museum appeal.
You can download a brochure with further details about the International Slavery Museum project here.
Photograph © Simon Webb
The museum's new displays are dynamic and thought-provoking. They incorporate the latest historical research but also cover wider issues of the legacy of transatlantic slavery which have contemporary relevance. Many familiar objects from the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery are on display but have been joined by new acquisitions, items which had been kept in store, and new artwork and displays specially commissioned for the new development, such as the new Freedom! sculpture.
The creation of this expanded new gallery is just the first phase of a wider project to create the International Slavery Museum. The second phase will see the opening of the Centre for the Study of International Slavery in 2010. Find out more about both phases of the project on the International Slavery Museum website.
Phase two of the project will be housed in the former Dock Traffic Office, which adjoins the Merseyside Maritime Museum. National Museums Liverpool acquired the building in 2006. Austin:Smith-Lord has been appointed as architect for the resource centre, which will be linked to the International Slavery Museum galleries in the Merseyside Maritime Museum with an enclosed glass bridge.
ITV Granada, the previous occupants of the former Dock Traffic Office building, have moved out to make way for National Museums Liverpool. ITV Granada's MD in the region and Vice Chair of the Liverpool Capital of Culture Company, Sue Woodward, said:
"We're extremely happy to be an integral part of Liverpool's 800th birthday and Capital of Culture. NML's plans for this prestigious new centre, permanent exhibition and museum are fantastic for the city.
ITV Granada is firmly committed to Liverpool as demonstrated by our support of Capital of Culture and we look forward to playing an active role from our new city centre home."
The Rt. Hon Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, gave her support to the project by agreeing revenue funding.
Loyd Grossman, chairman of NML, says:
"The new museum will aim to challenge preconceptions and will address issues which are of relevance to everyone today."
David Fleming, director of National Museums Liverpool, says:
"It is important that this new national museum is in this city, and that the story of Liverpool's crucial role in the transatlantic slave trade is told well. It will demonstrate that this is a grown up city, able to address uncomfortable and disturbing truths about its past, even as we celebrate Liverpool's status as a European Capital of Culture."
Richard Benjamin, head of the International Slavery Museum, shows Margaret Hodge, Minister of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Black Achievers Wall in the Legacies section of the museum. Photograph © Simon Webb
The design team for the first phase of this project was:
Project managers Turner and Townsend
Exhibition designers Redman Design
Architectural consultants Austin Smith Lord
Supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund
We want to know what you think about the International Slavery Museum and our plans for the study centre. Email us here.