A new memorial for the victims of the transatlantic slave trade

London played a fundamental role in the organisation and funding of the transatlantic slave trade. While there are monuments commemorating abolition, and many statues and buildings reflecting the wealth and power the slave trade created, there is little to memorialise the millions of African people who were enslaved and abused as a result - or its impact on generations of Black communities.   
  
Ahead of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the Mayor is committing £500,000 to develop a memorial with its first site in West India Quay in London Docklands. The area is home to warehouses that were built to receive the products of slavery - the only surviving buildings of their kind in the capital. West India Quay is also home to the Museum of London Docklands, whose London, Sugar and Slavery gallery includes an evolving exhibition dedicated to the history and legacies of the city’s involvement in the slave trade. 

The plan has been developed by the Mayor’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm, who will continue to work with communities this summer as it develops an artistic brief for the memorial.

This work will fulfil Sadiq’s manifesto pledge to support a memorial to the transatlantic slave trade alongside educational programmes related to the victims and their descendants in the city. The project acknowledges the hard work and relentless campaigning undertaken by London’s communities over several decades. 

The first site will be located outside the entrance to the Museum of London Docklands and will be accompanied by a number of ‘satellite sites’ that will connect with different stories of slavery across the capital. Through these ‘satellite sites’, the memorial will help bring the weight of this history and the legacy of the trade throughout the capital, the UK and the world, to life.   

Working in partnership with the Museum of London Docklands, Canal & River Trust, and many other community and heritage partners, the memorial will be accompanied by an extensive engagement and education programme to tell a full picture of this vital chapter of London’s history. 

This is a significant step in a journey that will continue in consultation with community historians, activists, descendent communities and all interested Londoners.

A series of roundtables are will be announced soon, along with support for partners to host their own conversations about the new memorial, and we're now inviting community groups, community heritage practitioners and grassroots organisations to host conversations about the new transatlantic slave trade memorial.  

Host a Community Conversation this spring

Listening to Londoners’ perspectives on this painful, yet important, part of the city’s history, lies at the heart of our plans in developing this memorial.

We'd like community groups, community heritage practitioners and grassroots organisations to host conversations about the new memorial to the transatlantic slave trade. You can include any questions you feel are relevant, however, we will provide you with some discussion points that you’ll need to include, to help guide the conversation. 

You’ll make a note of the conversation you’ve hosted, and feed this back to the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm team via a short online form. The team will feed these conversations into the brief we are creating to recruit the artist creating the memorial. 

You do not need to have all the answers about the memorial plans, just simply be able to host a conversation that inspire Londoners to share their thoughts and feelings. We have a small amount of funding to cover the costs associated with hosting a conversation. 

Up to £1,000 is available to cover costs including (but not limited to): venue hire, staff co-ordination costs, marketing and communications, volunteer costs, Translation and interpretation costs, facilitators and workshop leaders, and specialist support services to help disabled Londoners access conversations.

Conversations should take place between Monday, 29 May and Friday 23 June (although we may fund some conversations in July in special cases).

Please send us a proposal to host a conversation by 19 May. We will make decisions on proposals on a weekly basis.

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