Buhlebezwe Siwani presents Remember Our United Beginning, a monument commemorating The Hague’s Translantic Slavery. The Hague, Netherlands hosts the International Court of Justice and is therefore known as the global capital of justice. With that said, this monument serves as a long-overdue act of remembrance.
On the 30th of June 2025 in the heart of The Hague and the International Criminal Court – a permanent monument was unveiled to honour the victims and legacies of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Created by acclaimed South African artist Buhlebezwe Siwani, the monument, titled Remember Our United Beginning, speaks powerfully through form and silence. Carved into space is a truth that has too often been omitted: that the foundations of global modernity, wealth and empire were laid upon centuries of stolen lives, bodies and futures.
Siwani, known for her spiritually charged and ritual-infused installations, offers not just a monument, but a mirror. She offers a space for mourning and reflection for those who descend from the enslaved, and for nations who must reckon with the systems those crimes set in motion. To see this monument rise in The Hague, a city revered for human rights jurisprudence, marks a profound moment of alignment.
It calls into question the limits of justice as we know it and invites us to expand our definitions of repair, truth and dignity. It further instills memory as a necessary element of justice for even we cannot undo history, we can choose how we honour it and who we center as we write the next chapter. This monument serves as a conversation starter on the justice that comes with memory and truth.
This monument symbolises strength and unity and is located on the Lange Voorhout in the heart of the governmental centre. This serves as a permanent location where the enslaved people of transatlantic slavery can be remembered and honoured.
