THE National Maritime Museum will celebrate International Slavery Remembrance Day with a series of free family activities, including poetry, songs, talks and workshops.

Tuesday's event marks the anniversary of the first successful slave uprising in the western hemisphere, which took place in Haiti in 1791.

The Greenwich museum has celebrated the day for the last 10 years.

This year’s events explore the National Maritime Museum’s vast collections relating to the trade of enslaved people, as well as focusing on the many connections to be found in the Greenwich area.

Highlights of the day include a talk from award-winning composer and conductor Shirley Thompson on her internationally acclaimed work The Woman Who Refused to Dance, inspired by the National Maritime Museum’s collection.

Writer Jeremy Black will also give the first public talk on his forthcoming book A Brief History of Slavery, while and writer and historian S I Martin reveals the hidden impact of the transatlantic slave trade on a walk around Greenwich.

Broadcaster and actor Burt Caesar will then lead a closing ceremony which takes place by the River Thames at the Old Royal Naval College.

After a recital of Derek Walcott’s The Sea participants are invited to throw white rose petals into the river in an act of silent commemoration.

For more information, visit nmm.ac.uk/23august