<em>La Porte Du Non Retour (The Gate of No Return)</em> (Ouidah, Benin)
<p>Subject (Topic)<br />Africa<br />Public art<br />Public sculpture<br />Ouidah--Benin--History<br />Slave trade<br />Slave trade--Africa--History<br />Slave trade--Benin--Ouidah--History<br /><br /></p>
<p>Subject (Object Type) <br />Commemorative sculpture <br />Memorial Arches</p>
<p>Located on the sandy shores of Ouidah, Benin, the monumental concrete red, white, and yellow-painted gate and the metallic sculptures that flank it, commemorate the horrors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The memorial gate, which marks the point where African captives were forced onto transatlantic slave ships, is connected by a path, known as the “Slave Route,” to the market square, where enslaved people were once sold. The memorial arche is embellished with a frieze, depicting two lines of enslaved people bound at their hands and chained together as they walk towards waiting ships. The columns are adorned with sculptures depicting men and women captives, their extremities bound, as they kneel and await their fate in Portuguese-built forts. The back of the gate is adorned with depictions of their native towns. Yves Ahouangnimon was the architect for the project; Fortuné Bandiera created figures and bas reliefs on the columns; Yves Apollinaire Pèdé created the bas-reliefs on the center arch and two free-standing <em>egungun</em>; and Dominique Kouas created the copper statues.</p>
Ahouangnimon, Yves
Bandiera, Fortuné, 1953-
Kouas, Dominique, 1952-
Pèdé, Yves Apollinaire, 1959-
Photographs: Dan Stone, <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantoujours/33680680066/in/album-72157678589698644/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantoujours/33680680066/in/album-72157678589698644/</a><a href="https://medium.com/from-traditional-to-contemporary-aesthetic/the-slaving-port-of-ouidah-and-monumental-discourse-around-the-atlantic-perimeter-a41968341a57" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a>
Photograph of commemorative plaque: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Porte_du_non_retour_11.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Porte_du_non_retour_11.jpg</a>
Dedicated: November 30, 1995
Gouvernement de la République du Bénin and UNESCO.
Gouvernement de la République du Bénin
<a href="https://en.unesco.org/themes/fostering-rights-inclusion/slave-route#Collection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Slave Route, UNESCO</a><a href="https://medium.com/from-traditional-to-contemporary-aesthetic/the-slaving-port-of-ouidah-and-monumental-discourse-around-the-atlantic-perimeter-a41968341a57" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a>
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English
Visual Arts-Sculpture
Route des Escalves, Ouidah, Benin
<em>Reconciliation Memorial </em>(Cotonou, Republic of Benin)<em><br /></em>
Subject (Topic)<br />Transatlantic Slave Trade<br />Middle Passage<br />Public art<br />Public sculpture<br />Benin
Subject (Object Type)<br />Commemorative sculpture
The bronze torsos of two abstracted figures, engaged in a tight embrace, emerge from a rectangular bronze base. Unlike its <a href="https://www.slaverymonuments.org/admin/items/show/1138" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Liverpudlian</a> counterpart, this work includes the addition of bronze low-relief designs, reflecting images related to the slave trade, including cotton plants, chains, and industrial factories.
Broadbent, Stephen
Broadbent Studio
Republic of Benin Government; Faith Bebbington (the sculptor who assisted in the production of the finalized sculptures); The initial design work for the sculptures was undertaken by a group of young people in Liverpool, working closely with Garry Morris, the curator of the Liverpool Maritime Museum Slavery Exhibition, and were completed by selected young people from Benin and Richmond.
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English
Visual Arts-Sculpture