U.K. Department of Culture, Media and Sport: Plans
for 2007 bicentenary in U.K.
http://www.culture.gov.uk/about_us/culture/abolition_of_slavetrade_bicentenary.htm
The National Maritime Museum, National Museums
Liverpool, Bristol Museums and Art Gallery, British Empire and
Commonwealth Museum and Hull City Museums and Art Gallery
have collaborated to produce materials for schools about the
trans-Atlantic slave trade to support the teaching of history
and citizenship, and teacher training. Jointly funded by the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport and DfES under the
Strategic Commissioning initiative, the project will have
received a total of £750,000.
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom/
Having received around £1m from the Heritage Lottery Fund,
Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery will put on a
major national exhibition on the life and times of Olaudah
Equiano, a former slave and prominent campaigner for the
abolition of slavery in the 18th century. This will include a
large-scale exhibition, a smaller touring exhibition and
education officers to reach out to schools. // Contact Clare
Parsons, Equiano Project, Curator Project Manager, Birmingham
Museum & Art Gallery, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham B3 3DH.
Tel: 07766 922 637 (if unavailable at above number, please try
0121 303 9412).
A full programme of events are being planned under the name
Wilberforce 2007, led by the City Council and including the
Wilberforce House Museum, the Wilberforce Institute for the
study of Slavery and Emancipation and the University of Hull.
The HLF have awarded a grant for Hull Museums & Art Gallery of
£800,500 to redevelop and update their slavery and abolition
collections. Possible events include: conferences, concerts,
sporting events, lectures, and the refurbishment of Wilberforce
House. An International Conference on Slavery is planned in Hull
in May 2007 (supported by Bristol and Liverpool).
Contact: Mitch Upfold on 01482 300300
The Museum of Bristol has been awarded £10
million by the Heritage Lottery Fund to refurbish the museum,
which will include the story of Bristol's involvement in the
slave trade. The city-wide programme of work is being led by the
City Council.
Contact: Paul Barnett or Asif Khan: 0117 922 2000
The Museum of London intends to play its
part in unmasking London as a slave city, developing community
partnerships and encouraging new audiences to get involved in
researching and interpreting their heritage. The Museum in
Docklands are planning to develop international links with Cuba,
the West Indies and Africa as part of the planned exhibition.
The Victoria & Albert Museum will be will be
holding a two-day conference in February 2007 From Cane Field to
Tea-Cup: The Impact of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade on Art, to
commemorate the 1807 anniversary. The conference will look at
the links between the trade, slaves and slavery and the
production and collection of domestic and decorative artefacts,
including furniture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, sculpture,
architecture, prints and paintings.
Pocklington School, Pocklington Yorkshire: For nearly
500 years Pocklington School has educated young people with a
broad range of abilities and interests. Many have gone on to
achieve national and international recognition in a diverse
range of professions. Of its former pupils, none is more
distinguished than William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was a
pupil at Pocklington School for five years, 1771-1776. His
active mind, agreeable nature and talent for singing made him
popular. A former classmate recalled that he greatly excelled
all the other boys in his compositions . In 2007 the school
will honour Wilberforce's myriad achievements by erecting a full
size bronze sculpture. In contrast with statues in Hull,
Cambridge and Westminster Abbey the Pocklington statue is
intended to be of Wilberforce the schoolboy looking out on the
18th century world in which he would play such a part in the
service of humanity. For more information contact
the Pocklington School, West Green, Pocklington, Yorkshire
YO42 2NJ UK. Andrew Dawes (Deputy Headmaster), Phone
01759 321200,
[email protected] ,
www.pocklingtonschool.com.
The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum: 'Breaking
the Chains', a ground-breaking exhibition about Britain and the
slave trade, opens 23rd April 2007. Planned to coincide with the
200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade the
exhibition will act as the centrepiece of the South West's
commemoration program. 'Breaking the Chains' will occupy an
entire floor of the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum and has
been developed in partnership with Bristol City Council's
Museums, Galleries and Archives service. Entry is included
with normal Museum admission. For details call 0117 925 4980,
email
[email protected] or visit
www.empiremuseum.co.uk
