A Manchester-based composer is creating a new musical work that draws directly from historical records linking modern insurance giant Lloyd’s of London to the transatlantic slave trade.
David Önaç has been commissioned to produce the piece, which utilizes centuries-old insurance policies as its source material. The project received funding from Lloyd’s of London after the insurer acknowledged its historical ties to the trafficking of enslaved people.
Dr. Errol Francis, the artistic director and chief executive of the arts and heritage charity Culture&, highlighted the profound irony found within these documents. He noted that many of the records began with the phrase “In the name of God, Amen,” a stark and contradictory juxtaposition against the content of the papers, which treated human beings as mere cargo.
By incorporating these primary sources into a requiem, Önaç aims to honor the memory of those who were enslaved, transforming documents of exploitation into a tribute of remembrance.
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