Alistair Hardaker
Image: Threshold of Entrance Pavilion to International Slavery Museum with ironwork screen pattern (FCBStudios)
Redesigned pavilion will feature cast iron panels with £30,000 commission for collaborative work ahead of 2029 reopening.
National Museums Liverpool has launched a call for an artist or collective to co-design the cast iron panels of the new entrance pavilion at the International Slavery Museum.
The museum, opened in 2007 on the third floor of the Maritime Museum, will gain its own entrance as part of a major redesign.
The design for the new Entrance Pavilion, designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, includes a set of large cast iron panels. The chosen artist will work collaboratively with the museum to incorporate a design into these panels. The successful artist will receive a £30,000 fee with additional costs and expenses covered.
Michelle Charters OBE, head of International Slavery Museum said the chosen 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.”
“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.”
International Slavery Museum is currently closed for the redevelopment. It is expected to reopen to the public in 2029.
The call for entries is now open and closes 17 November 2025.
