Last week I visited "Breaking the Chains", a £1 million, lottery-funded exhibition running at the Bristol Empire & Commonwealth museum until the end of this year. It celebrates the formal abolition of slavery, while acknowledging that slavery still exists today in other forms. This is a very informative exhibition, that presents plenty of interesting facts about the history of slavery, including Bristol's shameful involvement in it.
The exhibition is very varied and well worth visiting. There are authentic artefacts, film, music, photography, video and personal testimonies to provide visitors with an incredible multi-sensory experience. The entire top floor of the Museum has six dedicated galleries covering the following key areas:
Gallery 1. What is slavery?
Gallery 2. Africa and Europe
Gallery 3: The Caribbean
Gallery 4: The Age of Abolition
Gallery 5. In slavery’s footsteps
There is also a place where visitors are encouraged to record their own thoughts and responses in audio or video format to any aspect of the 'Breaking the Chains' exhibition, called the "Vox Box". This is a nice touch, but I doubt how many people have actually used this facility. In fact, I wonder how many people have actually visited this exhibition. It was very empty when I went there, although it was a weekday, but I get the feeling that it is not doing very well for itself. It would be a shame if the museum had to close it down prematurely, because it really is an engaging and educational exhibition, that I recommend highly to anyone interested in the history of the relationship between Africa and Europe.
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