News March 2007
Abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in Britain marked
 | A thought provoking exhibition to mark the 200th anniversary of the end of the slave trade in Britain has opened at Hackney museum. It is London’s only local authority museum to hold an exhibition to commemorate the bicentenary of Britain’s abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The exhibition explores the background to slavery, the abolition movement, and the impact of slavery on Hackney’s communities. |
Find out more about slavery
Visitors can find out more about where slaves were taken from, the suffering they endured, the economy built upon trading and the plantations slaves were forced to work, slave rebellions, and those who fought to outlaw slavery. The staging of the exhibition is fitting, given the borough’s long association with the abolitionist movement.
From around 1750 to 1850, Hackney was a hotbed of radical thinking and meeting places for those opposing enslavement. Many of the key Abolitionists hailed from the borough, including members of Stoke Newington’s large Quaker community and James Stephen, a lawyer who helped William Wilberforce put together the successful Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.
Today’s Hackney community has been integral to the development of ‘Abolition 07’ and local people were consulted to find out what they wanted from the exhibition. The Museum is showing a documentary of local people being interviewed about their thoughts on slavery. |  |
Artist Godfried Donkor was commissioned to create a new installation for the exhibition and work with students from Cardinal Pole and Skinners’ Company’s Girls schools on self-portraits inspired by paintings from the 17th and 18th century, that form the end of the exhibition.
Teaching resource
Schools can use the exhibition as a teaching resource and Hackney performance poets Adisa and Baden Prince will be visiting local primaries getting children to think about what enslavement means to them. Theatre director Shango Baku is also working on a drama project by older people from the Caribbean community.
The exhibition is being funded by a £39,000 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant. HLF London region manager, Sue Bowers, said: “It is so important for people to learn about this aspect of the past. The cruelty and many repercussions of the slave trade will be brought to a much wider audience through this imaginative project.”
The end of the transatlantic slave trade
 | The transatlantic slave trade lasted for more than 300 years, from the early 1500s until abolition. Between 10 and 12 million Africans were forcibly taken to the Americas and West Indies, with merchants in London and other British ports making a fortune from the trade. The Council’s cabinet member for Community Services, Cllr Nargis Khan, said: |
“The abolition of the slave trade was a major turning point in London’s history, and it is important to ensure that people in Hackney are aware of the significance of that decision 200 years ago. It is great news that the Museum is marking the occasion so prominently.”
Abolition ’07 runs until 27 October at:
Hackney Museum
1 Reading Lane
E8 1GQ
Find out more about Abolition and the transatlantic slave trade
hmuseum@hackney.gov.uk or call 020 8356 3500.
Please also see Abolition 07 Adult Events Programme and Celebrating Africa Family Events.
Page updated: 20 Jul 2007