Reconciliation Memorial (Richmond, Virginia)

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Dublin Core

Title

Reconciliation Memorial (Richmond, Virginia)

Subject

Subject (Topic)
Antislavery movements--United States
Transatlantic Slave Trade
Middle Passage
Southeastern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

Description

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 trade, including cotton plants, chains, and industrial factories. The work was erected close to Richmond’s former slave market in Shockoe Bottom.

Creator

Broadbent, Stephen

Source

Broadbent Studio

Date

Dedicated: March 31, 2007

Contributor

City of Richmond, Virginia; 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.

Format

JPEG

Language

English

Type

Visual Arts-Sculpture

Coverage

East Main Street Richmond, VA 23219, United States

Alternative Title

Reconciliation Triangle

Has Part

Inscription on base:

"Reconnaissons et pardonnons le passé

Célébrons le présent

Construisons l'avenir dans

la réconciliation et la justice.

Acknowledge and forgive the past

Embrace the present

Shape a future

of reconciliation and justice."
Adjacent plaque:

“THE TRIANGLE

Liverpool, England The Benin Region of West Africa Richmond, Virginia During the 18th Century, these three places reflected one of the well-known triangles in the trade of enslaved Africans. Men, women, and children were captured in West and Central Africa and transported from Benin and other countries. They were chained, herded, loaded on ships built in England and transported through the unspeakable horrors of the Middle Passage. They were imported and exported in Richmond, Virginia and sold in other American cities. Their forced labor laid the economic foundation of this nation."

Has Version

One other identical version of this work exists in Benin

Extent

144'' (365.76 cm)

Medium

Bronze

Bibliographic Citation

Stephen Broadbent, "Reconciliation Triangle," Broadbent Studio. Accessed April 11, 2019, https://broadbent.studio/reconciliation-triangle-casestudy

Rights Holder

Renée Ater

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Sculpture

Physical Dimensions

144'' (365.76 cm)

Citation

Broadbent, Stephen, “Reconciliation Memorial (Richmond, Virginia),” Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past, accessed March 29, 2024, https://slaverymonuments.org/items/show/1140.

Geolocation