Slave Trade: Gorée Island and the ‘Fragility of Freedom’

The Maison des Esclave or Slave House is now a museum and UNESCO heritage site. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten. A global symbol of the transatlantic slave trade and a place where history, heritage and the present meet.

By Franck Kuwonu
DAKAR, Senegal, Apr 22 2025 (IPS)

Gorée Island, off the coast of Dakar, is a somber reminder of the transatlantic slave trade. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it embodies both the duty to remember and the challenges of passing on a painful past.

But Gorée is not stuck in history; it’s an inhabited island, where heritage preservation, daily life and contemporary issues coexist.

Located about 3 kilometers off Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, Gorée is a small island, only reachable by ferry. Its small size belies its large place in history, its importance in the transatlantic slave trade, and its continuing relevance in preserving memory and heritage for the African diaspora worldwide.

“This is a place of memory, you know?” says Eloi Coly, the Director and curator of the island’s museum. “You can’t talk about the island without mentioning the slave trade and the colonial era, because these two periods left their mark on its history,” he adds.

The Maison des Esclaves (The Slave House) and its museum, which Mr. Coly manages, are the main tourist attractions.

There, the echoes of the past still resonate.

On a typical sunny December morning, hundreds of tourists who are ferried across the Atlantic channel from Dakar, throng the forecourt of the Maison des Esclaves, waiting to be taken through the narrow alleys and rooms of the museum along the last paths once taken by millions of Africans violently seized from their lands and homes and later sold into bondage across the ocean.

Martine is a visitor and along with her colleagues, she was among the tourists waiting to be taken around by the guides that morning.

“Every time I am in Dakar, I make sure to visit,” she tells Africa Renewal. She is one of the 500,000 annual visitors, many of them coming from outside of the continent.

However, in recent times, more and more tourists come from within the African continent. Martine, herself hails from Benin and is part of the growing number of visitors from within the continent.

“This is our history, and I will never tire visiting one of the most iconic places on the West African coastline to remind all of us how tragic that history of ours was,” she says.

Iconic, indeed, opines Eloi Coly. Yet, no matter how iconic the island is, Gorée’s memory cannot be reduced to a static museum: “The entire island must remain a dynamic and constantly evolving place.”

An estimated 2,000 people live on the Island, where cars are not allowed. Its architectural landscape contains building styles representing different colonial occupations and eras from the Portuguese, the French, as well as the Dutch and English.

For Mr. Coly, managing the site –while preserving memory and accommodating its current habitat needs– is a daily challenge.

Most of the lands are public, and as a World Heritage site, Gorée is subject to stringent codes that shape its urban development.

“Any change that does not conform to the criteria that led to its classification as UNESCO World Heritage site risks jeopardizing its status,” he explains.

A stringent approach that sometimes conflicts with the needs of residents. “We’re on a living island. People have aspirations and we must take them into account,” he stresses.

The museum itself still uses traditional live-guided tours for visitors.

So, to reconcile preservation and modernization, a project to make experiencing the Maison des Esclaves better, is currently underway.

It seeks to enhance the museum’s experience using new technologies, “We want to offer tours in several languages and provide access to digital resources, so that history can be accessed anywhere in the world.”

Another major development is the historical narrative itself. Exhibitions will stop focusing on the arrival of the Europeans on the continent but rather emphasize that “life and cultures before the slave trade was vibrant and deserve to be told”, explains Mr. Coly.

UNESCO also recently changed its terminology from “Slave Route” to “Enslaved People’s Route”. A change which reaffirms that “No one is born a slave”, stresses Coly.

Passing on memory: an educational and universal challenge

The memory of Gorée would not endure without being passed on. That’s why education plays a central role in the site’s approach.

“In Senegal, the slave trade and slavery are integrated into the school curricula. Schools must come to the island as part of their extramural courses”, explains Mr. Coly. But with the massive influx of visitors – up to 1,500 pupils a day – there is an urgent need to organize these visits more effectively.

Over the years, visits from prominent figures have also helped reinforce Gorée’s universal message. When Pope John Paul II visited the island in 1992, he apologized on behalf of Europe and denounced the clerics who had blessed the slave ships, Coly remembers.

Twenty-one years later, then US President Barack Obama also visited the island.

Securing the future: Remembrance, Heritage and Survival

Preserving the memory of Gorée, Mr. Coly believes, requires a long-term vision. The island’s inclusion in the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience has helped secure funding, notably from the Ford Foundation, for its revitalization project. But beyond the funds, a greater challenge lies ahead: ensuring the future.

“Memory can only be preserved if it is passed on,” says Mr. Coly. “We need to ensure a continuum because no one is eternal.” The aim is to train new generations of guides and curators capable of perpetuating Gorée’s history with accuracy and commitment.

“Because Gorée is not just about Senegal, he continued, “It’s a heritage that belongs to the whole of humanity. Preserving Gorée means preserving a collective memory, raising awareness among future generations and ensuring that the lessons of the past are never forgotten.”

Source: Africa Renewal, United Nations

IPS UN Bureau