Bringing it Home: Making Local Meaning in 2007 Bicentenary Exhibitions

TY - JOUR

T1 - Bringing it Home

T2 - Making Local Meaning in 2007 Bicentenary Exhibitions

AU - Cubitt, Geoffrey

N1 - Article in Special issue: Remembering Slave Trade Abolitions: Reflections on 2007 in International Perspective.

PY - 2009/6

Y1 - 2009/6

N2 - This article examines the strategies that were used in exhibitions marking the bicentenary of the 1807 Act of Abolition to give local meaning and local relevance to the general histories of transatlantic slavery and abolitionism. Three approaches are described and evaluated: the first connects localities to the established histories of slavery and abolition; the second seeks more radically to uncover the 'hidden history' of these localities' connections to slavery; and the third uses voices from the present-day community to draw meaning from the histories being considered. Reflecting on the implications of these approaches raises questions about the complex relationships between place and community, between the local and the global, and between past and present identities.

AB - This article examines the strategies that were used in exhibitions marking the bicentenary of the 1807 Act of Abolition to give local meaning and local relevance to the general histories of transatlantic slavery and abolitionism. Three approaches are described and evaluated: the first connects localities to the established histories of slavery and abolition; the second seeks more radically to uncover the 'hidden history' of these localities' connections to slavery; and the third uses voices from the present-day community to draw meaning from the histories being considered. Reflecting on the implications of these approaches raises questions about the complex relationships between place and community, between the local and the global, and between past and present identities.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77949963035&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/01440390902818971

DO - 10.1080/01440390902818971

M3 - Article

SN - 0144-039X

VL - 30

SP - 259

EP - 275

JO - Slavery and Abolition

JF - Slavery and Abolition

IS - 2

ER -