Manchester Explores Myths About Race

Explore issues around the racist thinking which underpinned the trans-Atlantic slave trade in this new exhibition marking the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act.

Many Victorian institutions, including The Manchester Museum, contributed to the same racist thinking that had justified slavery. As part of the Revealing Histories: Remembering Slavery project, Myths about Race explores the difficult and sensitive issues that this raises. Objects and images are used which show how racist ideas were supported by museums and other media, and highlight how individuals and organisations in Manchester have worked to dispel these myths. This exhibition invites you to question the displays in the Museum, and to help shape its future.

Provoking thought about the role of the museum in constructing racial stereotypes, the exhibition divides into three themes. These challenge the notions that different ethnic groups formed a hierarchy, with southern people being somehow less ‘evolved’ than Europeans; the population of ancient Egypt were white, as perpetuated in motion pictures such as ‘Cleopatra’; and unpack imagery that portrayed African people and their descendents only as victims. Ornate African objects are displayed alongside material from active anti-racist campaigns and racist images which at the time were considered to be ‘scientific’. With space for discussion, provocation and contemplation, this exhibition aims to dispel myths about different ethnic groups and thereby combat prejudice. The responses from these discussions will help to shape its nature and future content.

With space for discussion, provocation and contemplation, this exhibition aims to dispel myths about different ethnic groups and thereby combat prejudice.�

Sam Alberti, Lecturer and Research Fellow at The Manchester Museum said ‘we involved a wide group of activists, collectors, academics, curators and archivists, from inside and outside the Museum to create this exhibition. We want to provoke debate and discussion around the issues. You may or may not agree with what we say, but we encourage you to respond.’

Revealing Histories is part of a wider project taking place across eight museums and galleries in Greater Manchester. Opportunities to join the online discussion forum and further information about the project can be found at: www.revealinghistories.org.uk

Revealing Histories: Myths About Race at Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL T: (0)161 275 2634 F: (0)161 275 2676 www.manchester.ac.uk/museum

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Zulu ‘Dagga Smoker’ bust, twentieth century. Donated by Edward Miller, February 1953. Southern Africa. Manchester Museum Living Cultures Collection