In 2013 it will be exactly 150 years since the Netherlands abolished slavery. On 1 July 1863, the enslaved in the then colonies of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles were declared free. Today, more than 80.000 descendants of that Dutch Caribbean past live in Rotterdam. Some of them are direct descendants, others descend from contract workers who had to replace the enslaved after slavery was abolished. In addition, some 23.000 Cape Verdean Rotterdammers carry their own slavery past with them (the slavery system of the Americas was tested on the Cape Verde Islands). This omnipresence of history justifies a Rotterdam Monument to slavery, suggested descendants who organized themselves and approached CBK Rotterdam. Artist Alex da Silva designed a monument marking this history in a crucial location, the city harbours. With performances and speeches, clave. Monument to slavery festively unveiled on Sunday 300 June 16 at Lloydstraat 2013 in Rotterdam by Ronald Plasterk, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Professor Dr. A. van Stipriaan Luïcius, curator and professor at the Tropenmuseum and Deputy Mayor Hamit Karakus. The choice for the Lloydkwartier is related to the 'triangular trade' of which the slave trade was a part. Ships from Rotterdam left with merchandise (such as firearms, pottery, spirits) for Africa, where the cargo was exchanged for enslaved people, who were taken to Suriname and sold there. The enslaved people did not come to Rotterdam and the trade took place outside the field of vision of the Rotterdammer. What was visible in Rotterdam were the traders, their ships and products in the harbour, and their exorbitant lifestyle acquired thanks to the lucrative slave trade. A location for a work of art that aims to reflect on slavery therefore had to have a relationship with the harbour area. The Lloydkwartier is part of the centrally located city ports that are undergoing a development that philosopher Henk Oosterling characterized as the transition from 'industrial steel' to 'cultural steel': their industrial functions are being replaced by a cultural interpretation of these areas. This is evident in the Lloydkwartier: modern, industrial activity with shipowners and dock workers has made way for a postmodern, creative industry with designers and television studios. Due to this cultural upgrading, the Lloydkwartier offers space for other mental-cultural stories. This makes it a suitable location for a contemporary work of art, which aims to be inspired by the role of the Rotterdam port in the international slave trade. Artist Alex da Silva has designed the work of art as a transition from 'industrial steel' to 'cultural steel': constructed from different types of steel, the sculpture represents a ship that has the shape of a musical key with dancing figures on it. This hybrid form shows the transition between two eras. His work of art respects the historical importance of the location for Rotterdam and is itself an expression of the new, cultural Rotterdam. The latter was an explicit wish of the initiators Peggy Wijntuin and the Project Organization Slavery Monument Rotterdam: not just to give a 'history lesson', but to show a shared history to Rotterdam and the realization that the descendants of slavery are also Rotterdammers. This spacious location with a view of the Maas offers enough opportunities to travel together to the statue during the annual 'Keti Koti' (the commemoration of the abolition of slavery on July 1).
