Artwork Celebrating Frederick Douglass Displayed Where He Spoke 180 Years Ago

Lessons of the Hour  opened today, Friday 9 October 2026, at Perth Museum as part of wider Black History Month celebrations. At the heart of the exhibition is Turner Prize-nominated British artist Sir Isaac Julien CBE RA’s immersive film-based artwork Lessons of the Hour – Frederick Douglass, which explores the life and times of anti-slavery campaigner Frederick Douglass and his time in Scotland. The artwork is displayed on the exact site where Douglass himself spoke on four occasions in 1846 at the former Perth City Hall and has been brough to Perth in partnership with ARTIST ROOMS.

The artwork is contextualised within a wider exhibition exploring Perthshire’s links to slavery, featuring never-before-displayed archival documents and two celebrated examples of Black portraiture on loan from Angus and Stirling, brought together for the first time.

The Pipe of Freedom was painted by Thomas Stuart Smith (1813/14–1869), founder of what is now the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum. Submitted to the Royal Academy Exhibition in London in 1869, it was rejected on political grounds, with Smith later exhibiting it elsewhere alongside works considered unsuitable or too risqué by the Academy. Painted from life, the work depicts an empowered Black man whose identity, like those of many Black sitters portrayed during this period, was not recorded.

It is displayed alongside Louis Black (1820–1886) by James Irvine (1822–1889), on loan from the collections cared for by ANGUSalive Museums & Galleries. This painting is an incredibly rare example of a portrait of an emancipated Black person living in nineteenth-century Scotland, painted from life. Black’s remarkable story is explored in the exhibition, alongside other powerful anti-slavery figures linked to Perthshire including Joseph Knight, Olaudah Equiano, and of course Frederick Douglass himself.

The exhibition, which is the first and only Scottish venue on this new ARTIST ROOMS tour invites visitors to reflect on the life and legacy of Frederick Douglass, who played a critical role in anti-slavery and human rights movements in Scotland and around the world.

The ARTIST ROOMS tour of Lessons of the Hour will continue next year to other cities where Frederick Douglass spoke multiple times during his nineteen-month campaign around the UK and Ireland. Exhibitions at Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast and Arnolfini in Bristol will present Isaac Julien’s work and invite audiences to reflect on Frederick Douglass’s impact. Through these collaborative partnerships, ARTIST ROOMS supports wider access and engagement with works of art in our national collections and creative participation in towns and cities across the UK.

Ashleigh Hibbins, Head of Audiences and Learning at Culture Perth & Kinross, said “Like much of Scotland, Perth and Kinross had close links with the horrors of chattel slavery and its impacts are still with us today. I cannot think of a more fitting location than Perth Museum for the first and only Scottish venue to host Lessons of the Hour as part of the inaugural ARTIST ROOMS UK tour. Our museum stands on the very spot where Frederick Douglass himself would have spoken to packed-out crowds as part of his powerful anti-slavery campaigning across Scotland. Julien’s poignant artwork re-energises Douglass’s life and legacy for a new generation, and we are proud to play our part in sharing this story with the people of Perth and Scotland.”

Perth Museum is managed by charitable trust Culture Perth and Kinross, which is also celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The Museum is open 7 days a week, and the exhibition Lessons of the Hour is now open and runs until 11 April 2027. A ticketed programme of associated events, talks and workshops are now on sale. Admission is free for all; however, donations are welcome.