International Slavery Museum
International Slavery Museum features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Liverpool. Give it roughly ~60 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type museum
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Liverpool Liverpool guide
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About International Slavery Museum
A National Museums Liverpool museum on the transatlantic slave trade and its legacies, and Liverpool's own role as a major slaving port. Closed for redevelopment until 2029.
The International Slavery Museum is a museum in Liverpool that examines the transatlantic slave trade and its historical and contemporary legacies. It opened on 23 August 2007, the bicentenary of the Slave Trade Act 1807, which abolished the slave trade in the British Empire, and also UNESCO's International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. Part of National Museums Liverpool, it occupied the third floor of the Merseyside Maritime Museum at the Albert Dock.
Its galleries addressed West African life and cultures, the experience of enslavement, and the struggle for freedom and legacies of slavery, alongside slavery in the modern day, racism and discrimination. The museum documents Liverpool's own significant role as a major slaving port. It closed at the start of 2025 for a waterfront redevelopment costing around 58 million pounds, incorporating the former Dock Traffic Office, renamed the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Building, and is due to reopen in 2029.
How long is a visit to International Slavery Museum?
Set aside roughly ~60 min for International Slavery Museum. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is International Slavery Museum worth your time?
International Slavery Museum is among the 13 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Liverpool, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Liverpool
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about International Slavery Museum and read more:
Day 2 of the Liverpool in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of International Slavery Museum
Preview the Liverpool tour free in the Gingerguide app.