TRACED Arts Programme

July 6, 2022
The TRACED Arts Programme is a curated programme of artists commissions, community collaborations and public events

Context

The area of Deptford in South East London. This fascinating landscape is the site of research into Britain’s complex historic role in the triangular transatlantic slave trade.

1/1 The Project logo, designed by the artist/designer Greg Bunbury

Following initial discussions in early 2021, with a group of interested practitioners, local activists and community historians and a series of additional detailed meetings between representatives of the virtual Museum of Slavery & Freedom (MoSAF) and the Empathy & Risk project, a pilot collaboration has been initiated for the purpose of delivering an arts-led research programme. The project is designed to raise awareness of the history of the slave trade in Deptford and to increase engagement with MoSAF’s longer term ambition to establish a permanent museum within the area.

The project now brings together artists, curators, representatives of several local communities in Deptford, South-East London; and academics from Cardiff University, Sheffield Hallam University, Southampton University and UAL. As a group, we want to work on three primary aspects:

  1. Researching the history of the substantial role of London in the post-Wilberforce global Slave Trade. From our research and conversations, we aim to commission texts by key researchers and publish them together with a growing annotated map of significant locations and related stories.
  2. Curating and commissioning artist responses to the relevant local historical heritage. The artists involved in the group will be commissioned interventions in public space and visual/video responses
  3. Engaging a wide audience, exploring the complex history of slavery through a multi-modal programme of participatory projects, multi-disciplinary symposia, cultural projects and public presentations.