Bristol Cathedral is launching a new exhibition that hopes to tell the ‘truth’ about its links to the slave trade. Called All God’s Children, it follows research that revealed around 1,000 people were buried or memorialised in the cathedral and its grounds between 1670 and 1900.
Around 200 (20%) of them had a close connection to the slavery-based economy. The exhibition will take place inside the cathedral and on College Green.
Inside the building, All God’s Children will exhibit the cathedral’s connections with the transatlantic trade of enslaved people through its memorials and grave-markers. On College Green, there will portraits of and remarks, comments or questions from Christians in Bristol, some of whom live with the legacy of slavery and experience the reality of racism in their everyday lives.
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The portraits displayed were taken by Garfield McKenzie. He has worked in many areas of photography, but his passion has always been people, capturing them in as natural, relaxed manner as possible.
He has made it his life’s work to portray the beauty, dignity and multi-faceted nature of members of the African family, countering the often one dimensional, negative images portrayed in the West.
At the end of the exhibition everyone is invited to comment, reflect and feedback about what they think the cathedral should do next. Questions the cathedral wants to address include whether it should have a permanent exhibition explaining its links to the slave trade, and should it remove some or all of its monuments with a connection to the slave trade?
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Cathedral bosses are also asking people if a monument should be commissioned to remember those who were trafficked, suffered or died as a result of the slave trade. The Colston Window and other references to slave trader Edward Colston were covered in June 2020. Organisers say they hope the exhibition will inform a wide-ranging conversation about the stories told in the cathedral, the ways in which they can repair and restore damaged relationships and the ways they can work together for a better future for everyone.
The Very Revd Dr Mandy Ford, Dean of Bristol, said: “For too long, the church has ignored, hidden or denied the experience of God’s captured, trafficked and enslaved children. Before we can work together for a better future we need to tell the truth about the past and this exhibition is the beginning of that truth telling at Bristol Cathedral.
“It is painful for those who suffer the intergenerational trauma of slavery and racism and painful for those of us who feel shame and guilt for past and present sins. We want to hear many voices in response to this exhibition as we look to a future in which Bristol Cathedral is a safe and hospitable place for All God’s Children.”
The exhibition will be on display from August 23 to October 21 and will be available to visit whenever the cathedral is open. There is no charge to visit. The exhibition on College Green will be on display from August 24 to September 29. It will open 24 hours a day.
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