Slavery story to be told through 'global voices'

Plans for the redevelopment include a new entrance at the International Slavery Museum's Dr Martin Luther King Jr building

A £58m overhaul of two museums will see the story of a city's role in the transatlantic slave trade told in new ways.

The International Slavery Museum and the Maritime Museum at Liverpool's Albert Dock are both set to close for three years in January.

Michelle Charters, the head of the slavery museum, said there would be more global focus when it reopens.

She said: "We won't just have the local and the national voices, we intend to have the global voices - the voices of the Africans, the voices of the Caribbean and the voices of black Americans".

Miles Greenwood said the new museum would help people understand the transatlantic slave trade has had on the world

As part of the upgrade, each museum, which currently share an entrance, will have its own way in for the first time.

Miles Greenwood, lead curator of transatlantic slavery, said that change would make a big difference.

He said: "The physical change and having our own entrance does actually make quite a big difference to the curation of a museum.

"For the first time we can think about a visit [being] a journey from start to finish," he said.

"I hope when visitors leave in the future they really have a sense of the different ways that transatlantic slavery has shaped the world they live in right now."

Michelle Charters said the new museum would also feature global voices

In November it emerged a £10m government grant to redevelop the slavery museum was under review following the Budget.

A National Museums Liverpool representative said a final decision over the government money was expected in early 2025.

The project is also being funded by money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and other national funding bodies.

The museums are open until 5 January 2025.