Shit, Blood, Artifacts, and Tears: Interrogating Visitor Perceptions and Archaeological Residues at Ghana's Cape Coast Castle Slave Dungeon

Localizing the Narrative: The Representation of the Slave Trade and Enslavement Within Nigerian Museums

“…This review of the representation and presentation of the transatlantic slave trade to the public at two specialist museums in Nigeria highlights the conflicting local and national narratives underlying such history. These complex and emotionally charged narratives often struggle to be at once accurate and contextually relevant, and as a result they may have lessened impact on visitors' knowledge and previously held assumptions (Apoh, Anquandah, and Amenyo-Xa 2018;Croucher 2015;Eichstedt and Small 2002;Horton 2006;Nash 2006;Smith 2011). Slave trade museums in Nigeria, as elsewhere, frequently represent "slavery" as a singular, homogenous, and temporally discrete event driven by and impacting past economies.…”

“…How can the public be stirred to empathize with past people, to alter their pre-conceived ideas of the past, to challenge over-simple stories of the past, and to welcome the opportunity to learn from the past? True representation of the transatlantic slave trade within museums requires the presentation of a full range of evidence including archaeological artifacts and oral history, however uncomfortable and painful, in order to move away from white-centric narratives based primarily on archival documents (Apoh, Anquandah, and Amenyo-Xa 2018;Croucher 2015;Fabian 2013;Fennell 2015;Horton 2006;Vlach 2006). Museums and heritage projects that aim to change audience perceptions should emphasize immersing visitors in people-centric narratives.…”

Archaeological approaches to slavery and unfree labour in Africa

“…These studies have in turn inspired similar research in Africa, where the colonial plantations of eastern Africa and the trade settlements and castles of western Africa have received growing attention in the last few decades (e.g. Croucher 2007;Thiaw 2011;Apoh et al 2018;Haines 2018). Although supported by historical evidence, an archaeological approach towards these colonial sites has given visibility to the enslaved as opposed to the enslavers, emphasising different forms of resistance, agency and adaptation to life in unfreedom, with the lasting pain and horror that this entailed.…”

Slaving and Slave Trading in Africa

“…This neglect is at odds with increased scholarly and public interest in the role of Ghana's forts and castles in the history and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade over the past few decades (Anquandah et al 2007, Okudzeto 2012, Oostindie 2005, Osei-Tutu 2007, Shumway & Getz 2017, Stahl 2008; see Brichet 2018 for plantations), even if numerous misconceptions continue to feature in Ghana's national education curriculum (Bonsu 2016). A burgeoning corpus of writings by scholars, public intellectuals, fiction writers, and graphic novelists (Aidoo 1965(Aidoo , 1970Eshun 2005;Getz & Clarke 2016;Hartman 2007;Herbstein 2005;Morrison 1990;Opoku-Agyemang 1996;Reed 2004;Richards 2003;Wright 1954) on both sides of the Atlantic directs attention to the forts and castles.…”