Liverpool Museums to Undergo £58 Million Renovation for Enhanced Slavery Narrative

A £58 million renovation project is planned for two museums at Liverpool’s Albert Dock, the International Slavery Museum and the Maritime Museum. This overhaul aims to present the city’s historical involvement in the transatlantic slave trade through new interpretive approaches. Both institutions are scheduled to close for a period of three years starting in January. Michelle Charters, the head of the International Slavery Museum, indicated that the museum would adopt a more global perspective upon its reopening. She stated: “We won’t just have the local and the national voices, we intend to have the global voices – the voices of the Africans, the voices of the Caribbean and the voices of black Americans”. As part of the upgrade, each museum, which currently shares a single entrance, will for the first time feature its own distinct entry point. Miles Greenwood, the lead curator of transatlantic slavery, commented that this change would be significant. He remarked: “The physical change and having our own entrance does actually make quite a big difference to the curation of a museum.” He further explained: “For the first time we can think about a visit [being] a journey from start to finish,” expressing his hope that “when visitors leave in the future they really have a sense of the different ways that transatlantic slavery has shaped the world they live in right now.” In November, it was revealed that a £10 million government grant intended for the redevelopment of the slavery museum was under review following the Budget. A representative from National Museums Liverpool stated that a final decision regarding this government funding is anticipated in early 2025. The project is also receiving financial support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and other national funding bodies. The museums will remain open to visitors until 5 January 2025.