Slavery exhibition opens today at UN

Publication date: 27 February 2023 - 10:30

The exhibition Slavery. Ten True Stories of Dutch Colonial Slavery opens today to the public at the United Nations (UN) in New York. Staged by the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands’ national museum of art and history, the Slavery exhibition will be on display until March 30 in the visitors’ lobby of the UN Headquarters, seen by thousands of diplomats and members of the public from all over the world every day.

This powerful exhibition calls on us all to put an end to racism and injustice in our own time and make inclusive societies based on dignity and rights a reality everywhere.

Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres

Recognising the continuing impact of slavery on world history is of great importance. We are very grateful to the United Nations for drawing attention to this important subject through the exhibition.

General Director of the Rijksmuseum, Taco Dibbits

At the invitation of the United Nations, the Rijksmuseum has staged a special version of its acclaimed Slavery exhibition first seen in Amsterdam in 2021. In New York, the ten personal stories from the original exhibition will be presented around a single object from the Rijksmuseum collection: wooden foot stocks (c. 1700-1850). Used during the Dutch colonial period, several people could be constrained in foot stocks like these as corporal punishment to prevent them from fleeing. 

For the conclusion of the exhibition on 30 March, the Rijksmuseum will organise a keynote discussion about 'museums and the colonial past' with experts from the United States, the Caribbeans and Europe, hosted by the UN in the ECOSOC Chamber at the UN. Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson will be the featured speaker.

The exhibition Slavery. Ten True Stories of Dutch Colonial Slavery is hosted by the United Nations as part of the United Nations Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery. The exhibition is made possible in part by the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN and the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York City. The exhibition will also be made available in adapted form for display until 31 December 2024 at other UN offices worldwide. This exhibition, as well as its original, is designed by Afaina de Jong at AFARAI agency and Irma Boom at Irma Boom Office, Amsterdam.

The Rijksmuseum’s Slavery exhibition of 2021 was made possible in part by the Mondriaan Fund, Blockbusterfonds, Fonds 21, DutchCulture, Democracy & Media Foundation, Stichting Thurkowfonds, Boomerang Agency and via the Rijksmuseum Fund: Scato Gockinga Fonds, Fonds de Zuidroute, Zusjes Nieuwbeerta Fonds, Fonds Dirk Jan van Orden, Henry M. Holterman Fonds and Bestuursfonds Hollandse Meesters.

More information about Slavery. Ten True Stories of Dutch Colonial Slavery: Slavery - Rijksmuseum
More information about UN Exhibits Current Exhibits | United Nations

Visitor information
Slavery: Ten True Stories of Dutch Colonial Slavery 27 February – 30 March 2023 United Nations Headquarters Visitors’ Lobby 1st Avenue at 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
Free and open to the public from Monday to Friday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
United Nations Visitor Centre entry guidelines

Not for publication
If you are interested to visit the exhibition, please contact the Programme Manager, Omyma David at david17@un.org and apply via United Nations Media Accreditation guidelines

If you are interested in attending the keynote discussion on March 30, contact Jacobien Schneider – Press Office Rijksmuseum – j.schneider@rijksmuseum.nl

Head of the History Department Valika Smeulders on the slavery exhibition at the United Nations

Downloads

The Rijksmuseum's exhibition Slavery. Ten True Stories of Dutch Colonial Slavery at the United Nations in New York. Photo: Richard Koek.