A CAMPAIGN for a Scottish Museum of Empire, Colonialism, Slavery and Migration is gaining momentum. Activists are also calling for Glasgow to be formally twinned with Kingston in Jamaica, with direct flights introduced to foster links between the two cities.

A committee set up by the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER) to work towards establishing a museum has already met with Dr Richard Benjamin, head of Liverpool’s International Slavery Museum, and it is hoped something similar can be achieved in Glasgow.

“I think we can do much the same thing,” said Glasgow City councillor Graham Campbell, a member of the committee. “A dedicated museum is about having a national statement and the recognition that this is part of our history. Obviously it should be in Glasgow because it was the epicentre of Scotland’s involvement.”

A spokeswoman for CRER said it was hoped that the museum could be established within the next decade.

“Scotland’s role in empire, slavery and colonialism was massive,” she said. A museum that will help capture this history is essential – we can’t resolve the racial inequalities persisting today without understanding the history which brought us to this point.”

The patrons of the campaign are sir professor Geoff Palmer, professor Emeritus in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Makar Jackie Kay, and Kaliani Lyle, the Scottish Government’s independent adviser on race equality in Scotland.

It is intended that the new museum would combine interactive exhibition spaces with an archive and learning centre.

CRER said the educational benefits alone would be “immeasurable”.

“From early years education onwards, it’s essential that all young people have a chance to explore Scotland’s history in a truthful and representative way,” said the spokeswoman. “This includes looking at contributions of black minority ethnic individuals and communities, as well as exploring Scotland’s role in imperialism and slavery.”

A web space bringing the history together in one online platform is currently being developed which, it is hoped, will go live in February.

NEXT year efforts will also be made to reach out for community involvement. “This is crucial to ensure the context and content of the museum credibly reflects the lives, origins and experiences of black and minority ethnic people in Scotland,” said the spokeswoman.

Councillor Campbell said Glasgow could follow Liverpool’s example and set up a temporary space within a museum until a dedicated building could be opened.

“This should be within the Gallery of Modern Art (Goma) as the building was originally the mansion of sugar baron William Cunningham,” he said. “If we follow Liverpool’s example and have a temporary home to begin with that is doable.”

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Campbell, pictured above, said twinning Kingston with Glasgow could be part of the latter’s reparations, and he is working to develop links.

“I am hoping to arrange a trade delegation over there with the Chamber of Commerce,” he said. “Part of our reparation could be helping Kingston to develop, and solving some of its problems. A direct link to Kingston would be good and a formal twinning would be important.”

The city’s head of museums and collections, Duncan Dornan, said Glasgow Museums were working to draw attention to the artefacts and archives relating to the slave trade.

“Historians have argued that Scotland’s relationship with transatlantic slavery is enveloped in a sort of ‘collective amnesia’ – a widespread lack of awareness of how our country participated in both the slave trade and slavery,” he said.

“Many objects and documents in Glasgow Museums’ collection, the City Archives and Special Collections testify in one way or another to this grim part of our collective heritage. We are working to draw attention to them and explore the ways in which they can shine a light on Glasgow’s relationship with transatlantic slavery during the 17th to 19th centuries.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow Life, the city’s sport and culture organisation, said museums and partners had been working on plans which “will better tell the story of Glasgow’s connections to slavery and the various legacies of our empire past”.

He said a range of new displays and activities were being explored that would show the full extent of Glasgow’s relationship to the slave trade.

A recent display at the Gallery of Modern Art highlights the building’s early history as the home of a tobacco merchant who profited from slave labour in America and the West Indies. The museum service has also been running a schools programme at the People’s Palace where primary and secondary students learn about “Glasgow’s Hidden Legacies: Slavery Past and Present”.