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New Institute at York wins AHRC cash for Abolition study

Posted on 23 August 2007

A new Institute, established by the University of York to improve the understanding of the past, today launches a project looking at ways in which the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade has been marked across the UK.

The launch of 1807 Commemorated, which links universities and museums, coincides with International Slavery Remembrance Day.

The funding from the AHRC gives IPUP a great opportunity to develop methodology and practice in audience research

Professor Helen Weinstein

The University’s Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past at the University of York (IPUP) has secured £325,860 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to set up the project. It is the largest sum the AHRC has so far awarded under its new Knowledge Transfer Fellowship Scheme.

The two-year project is a major collaboration between IPUP and five national museums - the British Museum, the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol, the International Slavery Museum at Merseyside Maritime Museum and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

‘1807Commemorated’ is a partnership between academics at IPUP York and curators, designers, education officers at the five national museums, whose practitioners will provide a wider forum for gallery, heritage and museum staff across the UK, USA and the Caribbean.

The project will document the commissioning, production, content development and audience reception of new exhibitions on the subject of abolition and slavery. It features a website at www.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated  

The founding Director of IPUP, Professor Helen Weinstein said: "What is really exciting about this venture is that we are building a national archive about the commissioning and production of museum and gallery and heritage site exhibitions, publications, broadcasts. But we are also looking at the audience response to these activities, producing new insights into museums and how they are used. The funding from the AHRC gives IPUP a great opportunity to develop methodology and practice in audience research.

"The bicentenary of the Abolition Act of 1807 marks a unique point in time; it offers an opportunity to examine how a traumatic episode of the past is remembered. This is important as it impacts upon ideas about identity, who we are and where we’ve come from. The ‘1807Commemorated’ project is establishing how people are dealing with difficult histories, and using this for thinking about contemporary issues of race, equity and identity."

AHRC Director of Research Tony McEnery said ‘IPUP is thoroughly deserving of this funding. Their two year project will not only create an innovative national archive but will also allow for a better understanding of how the public engage with such exhibitions.’

1807 Commemorated is an exciting interdisciplinary initiative at the University of York, bringing together researchers from the Departments of History, the History of Art, and Archaeology. The project funding was won with support from the Institute of Historical Research.

ENDS