National Maritime Museum declares failure to reflect the ‘legacies of slavery’

The National Maritime Museum has been accused of ‘erasing’ British history after declaring that one of its galleries fails to reflect the ‘legacies’ of slavery or ‘black voices’.  

The south London-based institution’s ‘Atlantic Gallery’ opened in 2007, focusing on the role the ocean has played as a route for the movement of goods, people and ideas over the centuries. 

But a recent display installed in the gallery now tells visitors that it ‘no longer reflects the approaches or ambitions of the National Maritime Museum,’ because the ‘legacies of transatlantic slavery are noticeably absent and Black voices are not well represented in the space.’ 

Visitors are invited to place their comments on pieces of paper in the gallery, under a banner that reads: ‘How are you affected by the legacies of transatlantic slavery.’

But writer Benjamin Loughnane, who visited the museum at the start of the month, said he was ‘very sad’ to see his ‘favourite museum growing up’ has ‘gone WOKE’. 

Posting his feedback in the gallery, he wrote on a note: ‘Please stop trying to erase our glorious history with your woke nonsense!’ 

In response to a critic online who asked him ‘what was glorious about the slave trade,’ he pointed out that Britain was among first countries to abolish the practice.  

The message in the Atlantic Gallery tells how it opened in the year of the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of the slave trade in 1807. 

It goes on to explain that three new walls – some of which contain messages from visitors – are ‘the first stage of an ongoing project responding to the existing gallery.’

The walls were developed with the help of a ‘small, intergenerational team of people from the African diaspora’, it adds. 

The message continues: ‘This space foregrounds human stories and considers the local landscape of Greenwich and surrounding areas in this history.

‘We hope this will improve the gallery and inform how the Museum presents the history and legacies of transatlantic slavery in the future.’ 

Writer Benjamin Loughnane, who visited the museum at the start of the month, said he was ‘very sad’ to see his ‘favourite museum growing up’ has ‘gone WOKE’. Posting his feedback in the gallery, he wrote on a note: ‘Please stop trying to erase our glorious history with your woke nonsense!’

As recently as July last year, information about the gallery on the museum’s website did not display a message discrediting the existing space. 

But by November last year, a similar message to the one in the physical gallery had been added.  

The updated page adds that, to mark International Slavery Remembrance Day in 2021, five young people were invited to ‘interrogate’ the gallery. 

A text written by the participants on a separate page reads: ‘The Atlantic Worlds gallery needs to be re-imagined. 

‘The hard truths of the period between the 17th and 19th century – the rise of colonialism and the Transatlantic Slave Trade – are difficult to confront. 

‘But the stories of the lives affected by these global systems, and their enduring impact today, must be told.’

‘This project is a small step towards this – an opportunity to widen the perspectives contained within the gallery. 

‘It’s impossible to transform the space for a single day, but we hope to create space for practical conversations that shift power away from the institution and into the hands of people affected by the legacy of slavery, empire, and the racism that persists today.’

The young people made a series of changes to the gallery, including changing the lighting by making it brighter, because it is ‘not a place to fall asleep, but to wake up and face reality.’ 

The message in the museum’s gallery comes after the museum removed a bust of King George III that showed him flanked by two kneeling African men because it was a ‘hurtful reinforcement of racial stereotypes’.

The institution said in 2021 that the figurehead, which is understood to have been created to celebrate Britain’s victory at the Battle of Waterloo, was the subject of ‘frequent criticism’ and was ‘a hurtful reinforcement of stereotypes’ .

Mr Loughnane took his criticism of the museum to Twitter, saying it had ‘gone WOKE’

And in October 2020, the museum said it was to review the legacy of Lord Horatio Nelson as part of its efforts to challenge Britain’s ‘barbaric history of race and colonialism.’ 

The museum in Greenwich, London, holds the hero admiral’s love letters and the coat he wore when he was killed during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

There have been a series of other ‘woke’ moves by Britain’s cultural institutions.  

The Tate Britain’s exhibition on painter William Hogarth that opened in 2021 was criticised after curators highlighted the ‘sexual violence, anti-Semitism and racism’ in the painter’s works. 

And staff at the National Gallery carried out a three-year audit which linked hundreds of its famous paintings to slavery. 

In April last year, the Courtauld Gallery was criticised for introducing a new label on its paintings, including Édouard Manet’s 1882 work A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. 

The work depicts a barmaid at the famous Parisian cabaret club staring at the viewer and a male customer who can be seen in a mirrored image behind her. 

The new information panel both in the gallery and online stated that the female subject’s ‘enigmatic expression is unsettling, especially as she appears to be interacting with a male customer’. 

Critics branded it a ‘woke attempt to call out misogyny’ that ‘unwittingly centres the male gaze’ by shifting the viewer’s attention to the man. 

The National Trust has also been slammed for a report in 2021 that detailed links between 93 of its properties and slavery and colonialism. 

Winston Churchill’s former home, Chartwell, in Kent, was among the properties on the list because the wartime Prime Minister once held the post of Secretary of State for the Colonies.

The National Maritime Museum (pictured) is part of Royal Museums Greenwich

The move prompted a fierce backlash in some quarters, including from some MPs and peers, and the trust faced accusations of ‘wokeism’ and of jumping on the Black Lives Matter bandwagon.

Following complaints, the charities regulator opened a case to examine critics’ concerns, but concluded the National Trust had acted in line with its charitable purposes and there were no grounds for regulatory action against it.

A National Maritime Museum spokesman said: ‘The Atlantic Worlds gallery opened in 2007. Galleries are regularly updated with new displays and stories. 

in October 2020, the museum said it was to review the legacy of Lord Horatio Nelson as part of its efforts to challenge Britain’s ‘barbaric history of race and colonialism.’ Pictured: Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London

‘The “Work in Progress” display, inviting visitors to give their thoughts on the existing gallery, was designed in 2019 for launch in March 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic, and went up when the Museum reopened (after the lockdown closures).

‘We are continually learning more about the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its legacies, as with other aspects of history relating to Royal Museum Greenwich sites, subjects and collections. 

‘Some of this history had not been researched when the gallery opened fifteen years ago and the Museum is engaged in ongoing conversations with a range of stakeholders, academics, and visitors, looking at how we present a better understanding of this history with the updated and new research.’