In Slavery’s Wake
Making Black Freedom in the World
On the shores of our present, we are met by the waves of our past.
Many disasters of our world—racism, resource extraction, poverty—emerge from slavery and colonialism. But so do seeds of hope, sown by historic freedom fighters.
This is the wake. An accumulation of history, from the departure of the very first slave ship to our present moment.
To understand where we are and where we are going, we must first understand the forces that brought us here.
What is The Wake?
We live in a world shaped by racial slavery and colonialism. Theorist Christina Sharpe calls the enduring impact of these anti-Black systems “the wake.” Like waves trailing a moving ship, this history spreads across time and space.
In this exhibition, slavery’s wake begins with the departure of the first slave ship and continues into our present. Millions of people—past and present—are caught in the waves of this history, forced to navigate turbulent waters while imagining freer futures.
Though the slavery question is settled, its impact is not. It is in our homes, on our streets, on our highways, in our schools, in our courts and in our politics, all day, every day.
Cornelius Holmes, Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project, South Carolina, 1936
A Global Curatorial Project
Curatorial project members in Dakar, Senegal, 2019
In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World grew out of a decade-long collaboration between international curators, scholars, and community members telling stories of slavery and colonialism. The collective worked across geographies connecting the past and the present.
This exhibition travels to museums in Belgium, Brazil, England, Senegal, South Africa, and the United States. Curatorial partners from each location contributed stories, objects, and oral histories that reflect their local communities within this global history.
Exhibit Locations
Map of In Slavery’s Wake exhibition tour locations
In Slavery’s Wake will open on December 13, 2024 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It will then travel to five other museums around the world until 2028 (dates tentative).
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Washington, D.C., United States
December 13, 2024 – June 8, 2025
Museu Histórico Nacional
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
November 2025 – March 2026
Iziko Museums South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa
May 2026 – October 2026
Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire with Musée des Civilisations Noires
Dakar, Senegal
January 2027- April 2027
AfricaMuseum
Tervuren, Belgium
July 2027 – November 2027
International Slavery Museum
Liverpool, United Kingdom
January 2028 – April 2028
In Slavery's Wake Art & Artists
The perspectives of contemporary artists are woven throughout this history exhibition. Artists from across Africa and the diaspora reclaim suppressed histories, disrupt colonial narratives, and create new visions of freedom. Their artworks are a crucial part of this exhibition project and bring new, creative interpretations to this global history.
Unfinished Conversations
Unfinished Conversations is an oral history initiative central to the development of the In Slavery’s Wake exhibition. Curatorial partners and international filmmakers interviewed over 100 people in the United States, Brazil, South Africa, Senegal, Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the United Kingdom. Participants discussed the histories and legacies of slavery and colonialism and shared their visions for a freer futures.
These filmed interviews are preserved in a new oral history archive at Brown University’s John Carter Brown Library.