Jamaica UN Mission takes lead in developing slavery victims’ Memorial
The design and execution of a permanent memorial to honour the victims of the transatlantic slave trade titled The Ark of Return was spear headed by Jamaica’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Since it was a CARICOM initiative, Jamaica has been at the lead on behalf of the Region with Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United Nations H.E. Courtenay Rattray selected to chair the Permanent Memorial Committee.
The Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the UN was responsible for coordinating the negotiation and adoption of the annual resolution entitled ‘Permanent Memorial to and Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery’ which is customarily adopted by consensus with nearly 140 co-sponsors each year.
According to Counsellor (Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Affairs) Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the United Nations, Kurt Davis “the resolution not only endorses the Permanent Memorial initiative, but more broadly calls for an educational outreach programme to highlight the lessons of slavery and its legacies.”
The Permanent Memorial Committee, UNESCO and the UNOP signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding to conduct an international competition to select a design for the permanent memorial. The goal of this competition was to identify an outstanding artistic complement to the landscape of the UN Headquarters, an iconic site that will deepen, both visually and spiritually, the visitor’s experience of this important environment. Members of the Committee included Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, the Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Senegal, Suriname, the United Kingdom, the African Union, the Chair of CARICOM, the Chair of the African Group of Ambassadors, the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Department of Public Information (DPI), the New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Chairperson of the Sub-Committee for the Elimination of Racism of the NGO Committee on Human Rights. The Ambassador/Permanent Observer of CARICOM was also an ex officio member of the Committee.
The Memorial was selected after an international design competition that saw more than 310 entries from as many as 83 different nationalities, including quite a number from the Caribbean. The winning designer, Mr. Rodney Leon, is an African-American of Haitian parentage and is also the designer of the African Burial Ground National Monument in lower Manhattan, NY.
The Ark of Return is meant to be a reminder of the tragedy and a tribute to the victims, but also a symbol of the work yet to be done. The guiding theme of the Memorial is Acknowledge the Tragedy, Consider the Legacy, Lest We Forget. It is a sacred space that is designed to psychologically and spiritually transport visitors to a place where acknowledgement, education, reflection and healing can take place. The Memorial’s exterior form is constructed in a fashion to reflect the image of a vessel or ship in acknowledgement of the millions of African people transported on slave ships to different parts of the world during the ‘Middle Passage’.
Triangular shaped gleaming white marble panels are supported by a stainless steel structural frame with the triangular patterns reminiscent of the triangular route of the slave trade which existed between the continents. The Ark of Return is a vessel which acts in a manner to undo the tragedy of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade in order to heal and move forward in a positive manner.
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