The lack of memorials and monuments dedicated to the victims of slavery is leading to ignorance and memory loss, says RIBA Gold Medal-winning architect David Adjaye.
Speaking in a live talk streamed on Dezeen, Adjaye said that "wherever slavery has happened, it has to be dealt with" if society is to move forward.
"[Slavery] is a horrific wound that has just been ignored, and the problem is, it can't heal until you deal with it in some way," explained Adjaye, who was in conversation with graphic designer Michael Bierut and author Spencer Bailey.
The talk was part of a Dezeen x Phaidon collaboration to mark the publication of Bailey's book, In Memory Of: Designing Contemporary Memorials.
Monuments facilitate "cathartic reckoning" During the talk, Bailey illuminated the lack of memorials around the world that commemorate victims of the slave-trade, despite its significance throughout several centuries and continents.
According to the Ghanaian-British architect, without these tributes, people cannot learn from the past and risk forgetting.
"If you just made a monument to the horror of slavery in every community that it happened, every generation from that community would have to now negotiate that and would know that this was really an issue," said Adjaye.
Adjaye's proposed memorial for Cherry Groce
"It's part of the cathartic reckoning that is critical if your civilisation is to have any credibility in saying that we have learned a...