Let’s have a Tate Greenock that can give a perspective on our links to slavery
THE Grade A-listed sugar sheds at Greenock are a unique example of Scotland’s Victorian industrial architecture.
I read with interest that MSP Stuart Mcmillan proposes that they be made into a museum detailing Scotland’s links with the slave trade (“‘Slavery-linked firms should help pay for a human rights museum’”, The Herald, July 13).
Until 1995 the building was used by sugar refiners Tate and Lyle. The Tate part of the name is the family that founded the Tate Gallery in London, now named Tate Britain. Galleries have subsequently been established in London (Tate Modern), St Ives and Liverpool. The Tate
Liverpool is in a building and setting very similar to the Greenock Sugar Sheds.
The sugar sheds are massive. I understand that the Tate has a huge amount of paintings in storage. The establishment of a “Tate Greenock”, incorporating an exhibition of Glasgow’s links to slavery as an adjunct to a gallery of paintings would be a wonderful way of illustrating Greenock’s history in the round. Bruce Walker, Largs.
IT was very encouraging to see your report about proposals to use the old sugar sheds at Watt Dock in Greenock for a museum about Scotland’s connections with slavery.
This would be an excellent venue by the Clyde where the great sugar and tobacco loads were deposited. It would also be a way of bringing much-needed public and private investment into Inverclyde. MSP Stuart Mcmillan’s proposal to seek support from those firms and families who were associated with slavery would be a practical way of making reparations.
The link with Rabbie Burns and his proposed life in plantation administration is another aspect of 18th century Scottish life that would be worthy of further exploration. Unlike some, I would not be too critical of Burn’s plans to move to Jamaica given the poverty and brutality of Scottish farming life at that time. His beautiful tribute, A Slave’s Lament, shows his empathy for those trapped in the terrible circumstances of slavery. I doubt he would have lasted long in Jamaica.
On frequent trips to Liverpool I have been a visitor to the wonderful Slavery Museum on the Quayside. On every visit there has been a very diverse collection of visitors-schoolchildren, tourists and families of all backgrounds from the North West. The many exhibitions feature commentaries from young people from local schools and visitors. It is very clear from their input that they have taken the museum’s message about the need for tolerance and respect for human rights, very seriously.
A Scottish museum about slavery would open up many opportunities for students and researchers to produce original material. There are many stories waiting to be told about those ex-slaves who became part of Scottish 19th century life and active in radical politics.
This would be a very worthwhile project to support the Black Lives Matter Campaign. Maggie Chetty, Glasgow G13.
Sea minus
VICTORIA Weldon’s article on nuisance smells (“Something stinks as councils receive13,000 odour complaints”, the Herald, July 14) reminded me of the days when raw sewage was pumped into the Firth of Forth at Seafield. Bathers at nearby Portobello were often horrified to find something nasty floating beside them. My grandfather summed up the situation by remarking: “Ye cannae swim at Portobello any more. Ye just go through the motions.” Gordon Wright, Edinburgh EH9.