| Exhibition Review | The Journal of American History, 94.3

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| Exhibition Review | The Journal of American History, 94.3 | The History Cooperative

Exhibition Reviews

"Inhuman Traffic: The Business of the Slave Trade." The British Museum, London, England. http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/inhuman_traffic.aspx.

Temporary exhibition, May 24, 2007–Jan. 10, 2008.

"Portraits, People, and Abolition." National Portrait Gallery, London, England. http://www.npg.org.uk/abolition/.

Temporary gallery trail, March 17–July 22, 2007. Trail researched and written by Caroline Bressey.

"Uncomfortable Truths: The Shadow of Slave Trading on Contemporary Art and Design"; and "Traces of the Trade: Discovery Trails Exploring the Links between Art, Design, and the Transatlantic Slave Trade." The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England. http://www.vam.ac.uk/uncomfortable_truths/.

Temporary exhibition, Feb. 20–June 17, 2007. Zoé Whitley, curator; Ligaya Salazar, project manager.

Temporary gallery trail, Feb. 20–Dec. 31, 2007.

On March 25, 1807, the British Parliament passed an act outlawing the transatlantic slave trade to the British colonies. To commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of abolition, a host of British institutions—museums, libraries, colleges, and art galleries—devoted a portion of 2007 to representing the connections between the slave trade and Britain. A significant grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund encouraged museums to mark this bicentenary. These commemorations, however, are not without controversy; they have important implications for the past and the present. When the London mayor, Ken Livingstone, argued that an apology for the city's role in the slave trade was long overdue, a vitriolic public debate ensued. The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) make it quite plain in their literature and their exhibits that they do not consider slavery to be a thing of the past. The brochure accompanying "Portraits, People, and Abolition" at the NPG states: "This Act did not end slavery in the British Empire, nor did it end the involvement of British companies in the slave trade. 1807 did, however, mark the moment when men and women—privileged and poor, enslaved and free—celebrated their initial success against a barbaric trade." How institutions chose to "celebrate" or mark this occasion, then, poses fascinating questions for all historians. What kind of material culture best conveys the story of slavery or abolition? Whose voices will be heard? When does this story begin or end? Finally, will the history and memory of slavery and abolition be changed by these exhibits, and have the exhibits been shaped by historical scholarship?

The exhibits at the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery provide illuminating—sometimes startling—answers to these questions about how best to represent slavery and abolition. The format and foci of the three exhibits varied widely. What I found surprised me: where I thought I would find a grand exhibit (at the British Museum), I found the most modest one, and where I thought I would meet with the same old story of great men (at the NPG), I was astonished by the complexity and nuance of the exhibit.

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