Liverpool will once again host a powerful programme of events to mark Slavery Remembrance Day this August, bringing together communities, artists, researchers and cultural organisations to reflect on the legacies of transatlantic slavery and honour the resilience of enslaved people.

Taking place across the city from 17 to 23 August 2026, the programme includes public lectures, workshops and performances alongside the annual Walk of Remembrance, an inclusive act of remembrance, reflection and solidarity, open to everyone.

For the first time there will also be a Slavery Remembrance Summer School, a week of youth-led movement-based performance workshops, culminating in a final performance during the Walk of Remembrance.

While the International Slavery Museum is closed for major redevelopment as part of the Waterfront Transformation Project, Slavery Remembrance Day takes on additional significance. A programme of events will ensure that the stories held by the museum continue to be shared and understood during the closure, ahead of its planned reopening in 2029.

This year the prestigious Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Memorial Lecture welcomes acclaimed scholar and cultural historian, Anita Gonzalez (Ph.D), for a thought-provoking exploration of memory, performance and resistance within African Diasporic cultures.

Named in honour of Liverpool activist, educator and anti-racism campaigner, Dorothy Kuya, the annual memorial lecture continues her legacy of challenging injustice through education, activism and public engagement.

Anita Gonzalez (Ph.D) says: “Black lives have always been culturally resilient. We mobilise our stories internally for community building and externally for social justice. It is an honour to be the guest speaker at Liverpool’s Slavery Remembrance Day.

“Activists like Dorothy Kuya demonstrate the ongoing resilience of Black people, and transnational activism has always been the path forward for animating networks of social justice.”

Michelle Charters, OBE, head of International Slavery Museum, adds: “It’s fitting that while International Slavery Museum’s doors are closed, we have gone big with this year’s programme.

“From Anita Gonzalez’s internationally respected research and creative practice, that speak directly to the themes of remembrance, resistance and cultural survival, to our very first summer school that will engage our local young people to play a symbolic part within the Walk of Remembrance, the programme is full of energy, meaning and purpose.

“Slavery Remembrance Day is as important as ever in a city continuing to confront its historic role in slavery and it feels vital that we create these spaces for reflection, dialogue and learning.”

The full programme can be found at www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/srd

Image: Mina Bihi Adjustment Bureau

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