In Plain Sight: Transatlantic slavery and Devon

n Plain Sight is a major exhibition exploring the museum’s and Devon’s links with centuries of trading enslaved African people across the Atlantic.

The exhibition investigates aspects of the transatlantic slave trade that are all around us, but for some remain ‘hidden in plain sight’. Since 2018, RAMM has been working with a network of researchers and experts to shed light on this hidden history.

Using the museum’s collections and contemporary sources, In Plain Sight traces the local industries that relied on the trade and the lives of the people who benefitted from its profits. It also features a newly commissioned film which reflects on RAMM’s iconic painting ‘Portrait of an African’ and a new commission by the acclaimed artist Joy Gregory. Gregory has worked with the museum team, the exhibition’s advisory panel and local community members to create a work responding to the themes of In Plain Sight.