Get Out More.............................Exhibition News

EQUIANO (Birmingham, Gas Hall, until Jan 13)

30-10-2007

The 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery is marked in a wonderful new exhibition at the Gas Hall reports Paula Elenor.

Birmingham has much to be proud of this year as we all celebrate the bicentenary of the 1807 Act of Parliament abolishing British involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade - one milestone in the long journey towards full emancipation.

The Rep's co-production of "Rough Crossings" by Kings Norton schoolboy Caryl Phillips started its national tour here in September. Now in Black History Month, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery have just opened a major exhibition in Gas Hall - Equiano: An exhibition of an extraordinary life. I cannot recommend it highly enough. And it's free!

Equiano, an ex-slave, was a co-worker of Clarkson and Sharpe, the driven figures behind the early Abolition Movement and the attempts to re-settle ex-slaves in Sierra Leonne - the story of "Rough Crossings" in fact - so it seems fitting that the Birmingham museums service in partnership with the Equiano society has put on this major exhibition now.

Equiano's life story, fascinating in itself, is contextualised in the 18th century society and politics of the time. The interpretation is first-class and is accessible to all ages - there are plenty of child friendly visual and audio displays, and while I was there, I could hear some enthusiastic drumming in the background.

This is definitely a great trip for the family, but it's on until January anyway, so don't worry if you can't make it just yet.

The exhibition does not evade the complexities, contradictions and controversies that surround the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. As Brummies, we can feel proud that some of the leading abolitionists of the time where part of the Lunar Society led by Matthew Boulton at Soho House in Handsworth; however, we are also reminded that a great deal of Birmingham's prosperity in the 18century was under-pinned by the economics of the slave trade.

The delicately wrought sugar tongs and bowls made at Boulton's Manufactory at the time, catered for the fashionable craving for sugar - produced by slave labour in the West Indies.

Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745, a free African in the kingdom of Benin (now part of Nigeria). He died in London in 1797 a free man, a leading figure in the Abolition Movement and a successful author having published his account of his life in The Interesting Narrative.

The exhibition is centred around the incredible story of this truly inspirational man. He travelled the world as an enslaved African, a sailor in His Majesty's navy (he served alongside a youthful Nelson), an entrepreneur, a tireless campaigner for Human Rights and a devoted Evangelical Christian.

Kidnapped as a child, he survived the horrendous middle passage, to be sold as a slave in Barbados. He was eventually sold on to a Royal Navy officer and, as a skilled and brave seaman, saw action in some of the key sea battles of the Seven Years War. It was during this period that he learnt to read, write and cope with the complex mathematics needed for navigation at the time.

You might have thought that he had done enough to earn his freedom, but - no - he was sold back into slavery in the West Indies, ending up working as a merchant's assistant - basically dealing in imports and exports.

He used every opportunity to earn enough money to buy his own freedom. Seems obscene to us now, but this was the only way out for him. Even with his official documentation he was never completely safe: he knew that he could be forced back into slavery at any time.

This precarious situation did not deter him from using his skills to travel the world many times over in order to trade successfully, and eventually settle in England, where he wrote, published and promoted his account of his life to highlight the brutal realities of slavery to an increasingly receptive group of liberal minded people who demanded an end to slavery.

As I said, a truly inspirational figure for all.

After I came out of Gas Hall, I crossed the road see the new exhibition about the Birmingham School of artists and crafts men and women in the Water Hall. This was great too, although I would not recommend it for young children. Why, oh why did we not get to be the European City of Culture? It's just not fair!

Have you seen Equiano? Has Paula called it right?

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