The first international exhibition from the world-renowned Legacy Museum arrives in Scotland for a limited run at Edinburgh International Festival from 8 to 30 August
This August, UK audiences will have a rare opportunity to experience one of the most powerful cultural exhibitions ever created about slavery, racial injustice and their continuing legacy.
Opening on 8 August, The Legacy of Slavery brings the work of the internationally acclaimed Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama to Scotland – and marks the first occasion the Museum has created a major exhibition outside the United States.
Presented by Edinburgh International Festival in the spectacular surroundings of the Playfair Library Hall in one of Scotland’s great civic institutions, the exhibition coordinated by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) invites visitors to confront the history of slavery across the Atlantic world and consider how its consequences continue to shape modern society.
The Legacy of Slavery is an immersive, hour-long 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.
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.
The exhibition is guided by the work of Bryan Stevenson, founder of the EJI 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: “We are thrilled to bring a part of the Legacy Sites to Edinburgh for this exciting festival.
“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.”
Festival Director, Nicola Benedetti said: “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.
“That is what this work with The Legacy Museum offers: a chance to bring the International Festival’s tradition of ideas and conversation into direct contact with one of the most searching acts of historical reckoning being made anywhere today. Hosting the first ever international exhibition of The Legacy Museum is a profound expression of our founding purpose.
“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.
“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.”
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.
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.
Tickets are free, book online www.eif.co.uk
The Legacy of Slavery runs from 8–30 August 2026.