ABSTRACT
Remembering the trans-Atlantic slave trade has abounded during the 1990s. From films such as Haile Gerima’s Sankofa and Steven Spielberg’s Amistad to museum exhibitions such as the Transatlantic Slave Gallery in Liverpool, England, this interest has taken shape in diverse contexts. 1 The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) initiative entitled ‘The Slave Route’ is perhaps the most ambitious undertaking aimed toward the memorialization of the slave trade. The goal of the project is to foster historical research on the slave trade, the preservation and interpretation of sites and monuments connected with the slave trade, the promotion of cultural tourism connected with slavery, and the sponsoring of visual and performing arts in the countries of African diaspora. 2
