Question reference: S6W-20896
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 29 August 2023
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Current status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 8 September 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to establishing a museum of slavery highlighting Scotland’s colonial history.
Answer
Following the motion passed by the Scottish Parliament showing solidarity with anti-racism in June 2020, funding was provided to Museums Galleries Scotland for the Empire, Slavery and Scotland's Museums project, which was run by an independent steering group, and included the largest ever national consultation on attitudes to Scotland’s museums and racism.
The Scottish Government is carefully considering the response to the steering group's recommendations, including the one which focused on establishing a new organisation to create a dedicated space to address the legacy of colonialism in Scotland. This is an important agenda and we will continue to seek ways of raising awareness of the role Scotland played in slavery and empire and how our museums and galleries can play their part in portraying an accurate story of Scotland's history.