LIVERPOOL.- National Museums Liverpool has launched a call for an artist (or collective) to co-design the cast iron panels of International Slavery Museum’s monumental new Entrance Pavilion.

Opened in 2007 on the third floor of the Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum has never had its own front door. The new Entrance Pavilion, designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, which gained planning permission in October 2024, will announce International Slavery Museum to the world, asserting its rightful place and prominence on Liverpool’s historic waterfront.

The newly designed panels will be the visible ‘skin’ of the Entrance Pavilion, symbolically transforming iron, once used in chains and manacles, and deeply ingrained in the infrastructure of transatlantic slavery, into a material of remembrance and resilience.

The chosen artist will work collaboratively with International Slavery Museum colleagues, architects, structural engineers, fabricators, and community partners to reflect the histories, legacies, and lived experiences represented at the museum.

This is a once in lifetime opportunity for an artist to play an integral role in creating a permanent and powerful public artwork, that sits at the heart of the museum's wider transformation.

The successful artist will receive a £30,000 fee with additional costs and expenses covered.

Michelle Charters OBE, Head of International Slavery Museum said: This is an artist call unlike any other, for a museum which is the only one of its kind in the world. The finished artwork will be a deeply meaningful feature of the striking design for our new Entrance Pavilion, ensuring the story of transatlantic slavery and its legacies is no longer a hidden aspect of our history, but unapologetically prominent on Liverpool’s waterfront. We are looking for an exceptional artist (or collective) who will bring not only their own vision, imagination and expertise, but can also demonstrate how this will engage and inspire our community stakeholders to participate in its creation. The artwork will be made of iron, a material that once represented our ancestors’ oppression, but by boldly reclaiming it as a symbol of remembrance and restitution, the artist will create work that represents the ambition driving the International Slavery Museum’s transformation.

Kossy Nnachetta, Partner, Lead Architect at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios said: The fabric of the Entrance Pavilion was always envisioned as the 'work of many hands'. We are thrilled that National Museums Liverpool are able to send this wide-reaching call-out for an artist, maker, or any creative soul, to interpret the spirit of decades of community conversations, and embed that into the design. This project is so important to the world, and the Entrance Pavilion is so important to the project, it feels right to open it up to world. We’re excited to see what comes through this.

International Slavery Museum is now closed for redevelopment. It is expected to reopen to the public in 2029.