Bringing it Home: Making Local Meaning in 2007 Bicentenary Exhibitions

The recognition and misrecognition of community heritage

“…Examples of this include the marginalisation of contemporary Afro-Caribbean groups such as Ligali during the framing of the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade. Here, people of AfroCaribbean descent were not accorded the right to decide which aspects of a traumatic past -and its meaning -were remembered, and were instead flattened into a softer and broader narrative of British achievement (see Wallace 2006, Cubitt 2009, Mack 2009, Paton 2009 amongst others for fuller discussion). Examples can also be drawn from the ways in which established class hierarchies have impeded the ability of certain working class organisations to be given recognition in the development of historical and heritage narratives and heritage practices (see for instance Watson 2007, Drake 2008, Wedgwood 2009).…”

Forgetting to Heal Remembering the abolition act of 1807

“…Although many of these museums followed a common narrative theme, most attempted to depart from the standard abolitionist narrative favoured by the government. This departure often endeavoured to downplay Wilberforce, and the abolition movement more generally, by placing the movement in a wider historical context (and thereby de-emphasizing the individualizing 'heroic' motif) and/or emphasizing the role of resistance by the enslaved (Cubitt, 2009). The '1807 Commemorated' project undertook detailed interviews with 1,498 visitors to seven museums.…”

“…It needs to be pointed out that the exhibitions at which people were interviewed did not explicitly raise issues of guilt or shame -it was not their aim (Cubitt, 2009). However, visitors often brought to the museum a concern with these issues, with many looking for ways to disengage from these feelings or looking for a positive affirmation of British history and heritage.…”

Learning to Remember Slavery

“…56 However, despite the various criticisms made of the bicentenary, for many of those in the heritage and education sectors that were involved in the hive of activity surrounding the commemorations, there was a sense that 2007 did in fact usher in a "sea change of thought." 57 In England school pupils currently learn about a part of history that has previously been either hidden, distorted or misrepresented in both the pages of the history textbook and the built environment.…”