"The Ark of Return": The Permanent Memorial at the United Nations in Honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade (New York, New York)

"The Ark of Return": The Permanent Memorial at the United Nations in Honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade (New York, New York)

Subject (Topic)
Enslaved persons
New York (State)--New York
Public art
Public sculpture
Slave ships
Transatlantic slave trade

Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

The Ark of Return serves as a memorial to honor the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. Constructed from white marble, the memorial is a triangular structure with clean geometric lines and faceted surfaces, giving it a modern yet solemn appearance. A triangular portal in the structure allows visitors to walk through the interior. At the entryway, a reflecting pool engraved with the words "Lest we forget" invites visitors to offer prayers and libations. Inside, a map highlighting the African continent is inscribed on the wall, with the words, "Acknowledge the Tragedy." Nearby, a robed statue of a human figure—sculpted from black Zimbabwean granite—lies horizontally within a triangular space carved into the wall. This figure symbolizes the millions of enslaved individuals, their suffering, and the triangular slave route. Beneath the figure, another  inscription reads: "Consider the legacy." On the opposite wall, diagrams carved in low relief depict hundreds of enslaved people crammed inside a typical English slave ship, further emphasizing the brutal conditions endured during the Middle Passage.

Leon, Rodney, 1972-

Photographs by Renée Ater

March 25, 2015

UNESCO; Permanent Memorial Committee of the United Nations; Member States of the United Nations

United Nations Gifts, Department of Global Communications, United Nations Headquarters, Room GA-1B-31, New York, New York, 10017, United States

JPEG

English

Visual Arts-Sculpture

United Nations Visitors Plaza, 1st Avenue and 46th Street, New York, New York, 10017, United States

Inscription on interior wall below the map:
"Acknowledge the tragedy"

Inscription on interior wall below the human figure:
"Consider the legacy"

Inscription on the reflecting pool:
"Lest we forget"

Bronze plaque embedded on ground in front of memorial:
Permanent Memorial at the United Nations in Honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Ark of Return
The United Nations General Assembly welcomed the initiative of Member States of the Caribbean Community and the African Union to erect this Permanent Memorial to honour the victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade and to educate and inform current and future generations about the causes, consequences, and lessons of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. The Permanent Memorial Committee, comprising Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica (Chair), Kenya, Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Senegal, Suriname, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with Member States from the Caribbean Communituy and the African Union playing a primary role in collaboration with the United Nations Educatinoal, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Office for Partnerships, the United Nations Department for Public Information and the Sub-Committee for the Elimination of Racism of the NGO Committee on Human Rights, completed this Permanent Memorial on 25 March 2015.

"Acknowlege the Tragedy, Consider the Legacy, Lest We Forget"
These three distinct phrases form the inspiration for the design of this Permanent Memorial. "The Art of Return" memorial is a sacred space that is designed to psychologically and spiritually transport visitors to a place where acknowledgment, education, reflection and healing can take place. The Memorial's exterior form is constructed to reflect the image of a vessel or ship in acknowledgment of the millions of African people transported on slave ships to different parts of the world during the "Middle Passage." Images of map depicting the "Triangular Slave Trade" influenced the use of the triangle as a primary element in designing the Memorial's shape. The Memorial is also conceptually organized to allow visitors to pass through "The Ark of Return" to intimately experience three primary elements on the interior space. The first element is a three dimensional map inscribed on the interior of the Memorial. This map graphically depicts the global scale, complexity and impact of the triangular slave trade in "acknowledgment of the tragedy." The second element is a full scale human figure lying horizontally in front of a wall inscribed with images of the interior of a slave ship. This is meant to communicate and educate visitors on the physical conditions endured by the millions of African people transported under extreme conditions during the middle passage. Visitors are provided the opportunity to seriously "consider the legacy" of Slavery's impact upon humanity. The third element is a triangular reflecting pool which introduces water in a meditative, ritualistic and spiritual manner. Visitors are invited to pour libations or say a prayer in memory of the millions of souls that were lost "lest we forget" this monumental and historic tragedy.

Bronze plaque embedded on ground in front of memorial:
Permanent Memorial at the United Nations in Honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave
Trade

Ark of Return
On this day, 25 March 2015 at the United Nations in New York City, the President of the Sixty-ninth Session of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General of the United Nations unveiled this Permanent Memorial at the United Nations in Honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave, in the presence of the Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Director-General of UNESCO, the Permanent Representative of Jamaica and Chair of the Permanent Memorial Committee, the Permanent Observer of the African Union, the Permanent Representative of India, and the Architect and Designer of the Permanent Memorial. The Permanent Memorial Committee expresses it deep appreciation to all Member States, institutions, foundations, organizations and individuals who have contributed to this Memorial.(*)

New York, 25 March 2015
(*)Non-exhaustive list of Member States and organizations that have contributed funds to the construction of the Permanent Memorial to Honour Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade:
Afghanistan; Algeria; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Bahamas; Barbados; Belgium; Belize; Bhutan; Botswana; Brazil; Burkino Faso; Cameroon; Canada; Chile; China; Congo; Costa Rica; Cyprus; Denmark; Ecuador; Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; Estonia; Finland; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Greece; Grenada; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kuwait; Libya; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malaysia;  Malta; Mauritius; Mexico; Monaco; Montenegro; Mozambique (on behalf of Southern African Development Community Group of Ambassadors); Namibia; Netherlands; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Phillipines; Portugal; Qatar; Republic of Korea; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenandines; Saudia Arabia; Senegal; Singapore; Slovenia; South Africa; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Sweden; Syrian Arab Republic; the former Yugoslav Republic Macedonia; Togo; Trindad and Tobago; Turkey; Uganda; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; United Republic of Tanzania; United States of America; Uruguay; Martinique; The Alexander Cheritable Trust (San Marino); Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation (Latvia); Ford Foundation; Rush Communications; United Nations Federal Credit Union and individuals around the world.

Marble; Black Zimbabwe granite

United Nations. "The Ark of Return": The Permanent Memorial at the United Nations in Honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery. Accessed April 11, 2019. https://www.un.org/en/rememberslavery/memorial.

Leon, Rodney. "The Ark of Return." Rodney Leon Architects. Accessed April 11, 2019. http://www.rodneyleon.com/the-ark-of-return.

Leon, Rodney. "Reflections on the Tenth Anniversary of the Art of Return." UN Chronicle, March 24, 2025. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/reflections-tenth-anniversary-ark-return.

Renée Ater