Wilberforce Institute Partnership outputs

The Wilberforce Institute is involved in a number of collaborative research projects, among them ‘The Anti-Slavery Knowledge Network’ (AKN), led by the universities of Hull, Liverpool, Nottingham and Ghana - Legon.

As its name implies, AKN is about knowledge and knowledge sharing, in this case in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of the project is to show how the arts and humanities can help to build resilience in communities vulnerable to human trafficking, forced labour and child exploitation through strategic, heritage-led interventions. This includes such things as community radio, music, storytelling, performance and film.

In February 2018 Professor John Oldfield visited Freetown, taking this opportunity to introduce our work to the British Council, DfID and government ministers. He also made contact with local NGOs, community groups, heritage clubs and members of the Sierra Leone Historic Monuments Commission, with some of these groups later becoming our partners.

Working with local filmmaker Lansana Mansaray (‘Barmmy Boy’/We Own TV), John interviewed Brima Sheriff, a filmmaker, activist and former Human Rights Commissioner.  Brima Sheriff began his career with Amnesty International, eventually becoming Director of the Sierra Leone Section.

It was this work that drew him to the attention of the Sierra Leone government, which in 2012 made him one of its Human Rights Commissioners. An outspoken critic of human rights abuses in Sierra Leone, Brima subsequently fell foul of the ruling party, which in 2017 removed him from office. When John interviewed him in 2018, all of this was still very much on his mind and provided the backdrop to a conversation that ranged widely over local politics, human rights and the future prospects of Sierra Leone.

The two films made during the project ‘Slavery and Human Rights in Sierra Leone’ and ‘Fighting Injustice: The Role of the Arts and Humanities in Sierra Leone’ can be viewed here: