Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
Description
2017 marked two anniversaries in Liverpool: the tercentenary of the Bluecoat building, a contemporary arts centre which was originally constructed as a charity school in 1717, and the tenth anniversary of the International Slavery Museum. Like many institutions founded in eighteenth-century Liverpool, Bluecoat was supported by funds derived from maritime trade; in particular, the transatlantic slave trade. As part of Bluecoat’s year-long anniversary programme, special attention has been paid to exploring the building’s connections to slavery. A weekend of events was held which revealed the presence of slavery in Bluecoat’s and Liverpool’s history, beginning with Elaine Mitchener’s performance of Sweet Tooth on Thursday evening and concluding with a day of public events at Bluecoat on Saturday. Taking place in a perfectly fitting dock-side location (the former site of Liverpool’s Dock Traffic Office), this two-day symposium and public activity explored the connections between charity, philanthropy and the black Atlantic.