Again, I suppose it goes back to the opportunity to present this history in a clear, concise
way, to give people the opportunity to look at objects from the time that have that sort
of... sort of emotional effect that had that connection with people's lives today.
So I think presenting real tangible things together with hopefully informative interpretation,
allows people to understand the history and, in doing so, to understand the impact and
the depth, and the sort of meaning of that history.
I think by making whatever they hold accessible to as wide a range of audiences as possible, that's number one.
And also looking at partnership from the very beginning.
When you start to think about why you're doing what you're doing, why are you having this
exhibit, then you have to think about your audience.
And if you don't include the audience in the process, then you've missed something.
You're, again, going to lead yourself into a road of going down a one-dimensional telling of this history.
And so in commemoration, I think it should be collaboration.
Also, whenever you commemorate...
I've seen quite a few examples of commemoration that were more celebratory, and while I understand
the feeling of, yes, we're celebrating the fact that it's over, we also have to take
into account the gravitas behind this history.
For Armistice Day, we are very glad to have soldiers that are willing to fight for our freedoms.
But at the same time, it's not a happy occasion.
We're thinking about those who've lost their lives, and in any commemoration, I think we have to bear that in mind.
It's very important that we actually now show that the slave trade and slavery is actually
an integral part of British history and world history.
And I think the tendency in the past has been for it to be sort of cornered off, inverted commas as Black history,
and of course it's not just Black history. It's part of a much wider history.
And you can only understand British history if you also incorporate slavery and the slave trade.
So one of the most important things is to bring it to the forefront, to make it part
of mainstream history, and not confine it to, you know, one month a year or something like that.