Fresh from renouncing allegiance to the British monarchy, Barbados has announced that it will be building a Transatlantic Slavery Museum.
This museum will hold the largest collection of British slave records outside of the United Kingdom to include a memorial, museum and research institute. Barbados hopes the project will be finished by 2024-2025.
A consortium inclusive of the Government of Barbados will finance the project.
The facility, designed by British architect, Sir David Adjaye, who was also the architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, will include a research institute dedicated to telling the story of slavery and its global impact.
It is expected to be situated at Newton Slave Burial Ground in Christ Church, just outside of the capital Bridgetown, which is the largest and earliest slave burial ground discovered in Barbados. Sir David will also design a memorial commemorating these victims.
The tiny Caribbean nation removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state in a spectacular ceremony last Monday, breaking its ties with the British royal family and with it one of the island’s last remaining imperial bonds to the United Kingdom.
Earlier this week, heir to the British throne Prince Charles acknowledged the “atrocity of slavery” in a speech given at the inauguration of Barbados’ new president, Dame Sandra Mason, who replaced the Queen as head of state.
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