The first ever international exhibition from the Legacy Museum in Alabama, comes to the Edinburgh International Festival from August 8 – 30.
Held in the Playfair Library, The Legacy of Slavery is an immersive experience. Visitors travel through centuries of history, from the transatlantic slave trade and the economics of enslavement to segregation, racial terror, mass incarceration and contemporary inequalities within systems of justice.
The exhibition is guided by the work of Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and one of the world’s most influential advocates for justice and human rights. Through decades of legal advocacy, Stevenson has challenged wrongful convictions, overturned death sentences and sparked international conversations about how societies reckon with difficult histories.
Bryan Stevenson said: “. The relationship between art, music, and justice is deep, profound, and ancient. So much of the world’s most extraordinary creative works have been shaped by eras of inequality, bigotry, and injustice. The Legacy Museum documents and explores a painful part of America’s history, which should deepen visitors’ appreciation of the extraordinary music and creative expression this history has inspired.”
The exhibition, which is focused on the Legacy of Slavery in the US, also includes some context on Scotland’s connections to transatlantic slavery. The exhibit explores the evolution of slavery in America using multiple forms of immersive content and material documenting the past all the way to the present.
Founded by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), the Legacy Museum has become internationally recognised for transforming public understanding of slavery and racial injustice through rigorous historical research and powerful storytelling.
Festival Director, Nicola Benedetti said: “”Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative have created something that demands our attention, our honesty and our willingness to sit with discomfort in the service of truth. This exhibition is free and open to everyone, and we hope as many people as possible will come and see it.”
“With this year’s International Festival we are placing a particular spotlight on the United States, and this exhibition sits at its heart. Running from the 8th to the 30th of August, it will sit alongside performances and works that explore the same history from different artistic angles, from theatre works Angels in America and HANG TIME to Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra performing Duke Ellington’s monumental symphony Black, Brown and Beige.
“The Edinburgh International Festival was founded in 1947 as an act of reconciliation, built on the belief that art and dialogue together could help humanity reckon with its darkest chapters and find a way forward.Hosting the first ever international exhibition of The Legacy Museum is a profound expression of our founding purpose.”
Presented within the Edinburgh International Festival’s 2026 programme, which marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, The Legacy of Slavery sits at the heart of the Festival’s wider examination of freedom, hypocrisy and the contradictions that have shaped the modern world.
