A public space to debate and discuss how to memorialize past human rights abuse so that it will never again occur.

Create a log-in (Existing members log-in)

Memory and Justice: www.memoryandjustice.org

Design

Design of Goree Island

Since artifacts are scarce, the Maison des Esclaves tells its story through its architecture. A horseshoe-shaped staircase divides the space between the Europeans’ rooms above and the slave quarters below. According to Joseph Ndiaye, the site’s recently deceased longtime curator, the courtyard between the stairs served as a marketplace where traders and buyers bargained from the balcony while the slaves were being weighed and sorted. After this assessment, Ndiaye said, slaves were sent down a corridor leading to the infamous “Door of No Return,” which opens onto the sea. The Maison des Esclaves was restored in 1990 with the support of UNESCO and the Senegalese government.

Comment on this article