Revealing Histories: Remembering Slavery

Trade and Empire's guest curators

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SuAndi

I am a performance poet and Cultural Director of Black Arts Alliance. The word slave makes my stomach turn. The word history puts me on medication – an intentional fabrication of fact by men of so called standing over each one of us.

Now, as for the word art, it used to make me giggle, but back then no one had graced me with art as part of my culture. It is now a very important part of my life as it knocks against falsehoods, exposes the unknown and celebrates the achievements of ordinary people. I love the fact that we are, each and every one of us, extraordinary people who have survived.

Kevin R I Dalton-Johnson

I am a professional artist, teacher and researcher into black masculinities as represented in popular and visual cultures. Involvement in this exhibition is unique and exciting, as it provides opportunities for looking at how displaced African artists overcome difficulties of dislocation to represent ourselves, our identities, culture and history within our work and also within the gallery space.

Dr Emma Poulter

I was the principal researcher for the Revealing Histories: Remembering Slavery research project in 2006 and I was delighted to be a guest curator for this exhibition. My work examines the biographies of objects in museum and gallery collections, unravelling their connections to institutions and individuals as well as links to histories of trade, industry and colonialism.

Dr Alan Rice

I am an academic at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, researching in the field of African Atlantic studies. The opportunity to use research related to my 2003 book Radical Narratives of the Black Atlantic to frame, with other experts, an exhibition that would tell of the deep impact of slavery on British, American and global cultures was very welcome.