Transatlantic Slave Trade - Middle Passage Monuments

Dublin Core

Title

Transatlantic Slave Trade - Middle Passage Monuments

Description

This collection focuses on monuments and memorials dedicated to the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Middle Passage. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, between 10 million and 12 million enslaved Africans were forcibly taken across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The Middle Passage refers to the Atlantic sea route between Africa and the Americas that was part of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Historians believe that between 15 and 25 percent of the enslaved Africans perished aboard the overcrowded, unsanitary slave ships.

The works in this collection address the violence and trauma of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in various ways. Some monuments such as The Ark of Return include the human figure, while others such as The Middle Passage Monument use geometric forms (abstraction) to commemorate the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Creator

Written by Grace Yasumura

Contributor

Renée Ater

Collection Items

Middle Passage Monument (St. Croix, USVI)
A twelve‐foot‐high aluminum arch commemorates the thousands of Africans who perished during the transatlantic slave trade. Composed of two halves, which bend towards one another but never touch, the work symbolizes “the need for the past, present,…

"Ark of Return": The Permanent Memorial at the United Nations in Honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade (New York City)
The Art of Return asks visitors to reflect upon the legacy of the slave trade and the persistent problems of racism and bigotry. The ark includes three principal design elements. According to the artist: “The first element is a three-dimensional map…

Reconciliation Memorial (Liverpool, England)
The iron torsos of two abstracted figures, engaged in a tight embrace, emerge from a rectangular iron base. Two other identical sculptures were erected in 1989 in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Glasgow, Scotland. According to the artist, the works…

Reconciliation Memorial (Cotonou, Republic of Benin)
The bronze torsos of two abstracted figures, engaged in a tight embrace, emerge from a rectangular bronze base. Unlike its Liverpudlian counterpart, this work includes the addition of bronze low-relief designs, reflecting images related to the slave…

Reconciliation Memorial (Richmond, Virginia)
The bronze torsos of two abstracted figures, engaged in a tight embrace, emerge from a rectangular bronze base. Unlike its Liverpudlian counterpart, this work includes the addition of bronze low-relief designs, reflecting images related to the slave…
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