Opening at the Australian National Maritime Museum this August is a brand-new exhibit, Chains of Empire, which explores Australia's history with Atlantic Ocean slave trade and the effects of Britain abolishing slavery across its empire in 1833.
Developed in collaboration with a team of Australia's leading historians from University of Western Australia, Edith Cowan University and the University of Melbourne, with First Nations guidance, this exhibit reveals the legacies of British slavery across Australia and highlights the real stories of the trials and suffering of indentured workers.
Chains of Empire opens on August 23 to coincide with the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, and poses the question of whether slavery, by its definition at the time, ever existed in Australia.
"Many Australians are familiar with our convict past, but transporting convicted prisoners to the Australian colonies was only one form of securing unfree labour", says historian Dr Peter Hobbins, the museum's Head of Knowledge. "Colonial shipping brought many people to this country who had benefited from slavery, and some of them continued to unjustly exploit the work of First Nations peoples around our continent".
Please note that this exhibit may be distressing for some visitors. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that the exhibit includes references to, and images of, ancestors who are deceased.
This exhibit is supported by Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP200100094, 'Western Australian Legacies of British Slavery' and the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities Project LE230100079 'Time Layered Cultural Map of Australia: Advanced Techniques and Big Data'
