6 Slavers and Raiders

1 Forgotten Heritage 2 Village Life 3 Music is Everywhere 4 African Kingdoms 5 Countries-Cultures 6 Slavers & Raiders 7 The Journey 8 The New World 9 The New World Africa's Children About Augie N'Kele What People Are Saying Stiftelsen 3,14, Bergen Exhibitions Two Dimensional Work Print Links Artist Residencies My Photos Critiques & Comments Motion

Slavers & Raiders

The Arab slave trade lasted from 700 to 1911 AD

The European slave trade began in Africa 1441 when the first shipment of African slaves were sent directly from Africa to Portugal.  The Portuguese would come to dominate the gold, spice and slave trade for almost a century before other European nations became involved.
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photo below:
At an exhibition in Fort Worth, while waiting for a group of students to arrive,  a photographer caught the artist resting on the floor  beside one of his works, Defended Village.

Defended Village~12 x 40 x 12 inches~Wire and Aluminum~1991

Congo Captive

One moment a man or woman might be walking to their fields to tend to their crops and the next caught in a net, and taken away.  Other times entire villages were raided, many people killed and the survivors taken captive.   

 

The Kidnapping of Olaudah

In the mid-1700s, when Olaudah Equiano was 10 or 11, he and his sister were kidnapped while their parents were working in the fields in what is now Nigeria.  They were sold to different people and Olaudah never saw his family again. 

Journey to the Coast

The journey to the slave markets in the north or to the coasts were arduous, thousands of captives would die or be killed along the way when they could not keep the pace. 

 

 

Coup de Grace

 1993  Wire & Aluminum,  29 x 48 x 12 inches, Portfolio  #39

When someone could not keep marching, which often happened because conditions were beyond brutal, they might be killed as seen here.  According to Dr. Livingstone, the Scottish explorer, slavers sometimes abandoned shackled captives to certain death and would not even remove their shackles.

Overnight Resting

H. 24"   W. 12"   D. 11"   Portfolio # 110

A mother clutches her child to her breast during an overnight rest stop.

 

Road Resting II

 H. 8"    W. 14"   D. 8"   Portfo # 44

With feet and hands tied and a stick wedged in the bends of the elbows and knees in this manner it was impossible for the captive to even raise himself up if pushed over.  This is one of the methods used to restrain captives while stopped during the trek through the interior of Africa.  This might be done when the slavers waited to meet up with buyers.  

Britain moved into the slave trade in Africa in 1562. Slave trade increased significantly with development of plantation colonies of the Americas, especially in Brazil. Other countries involved in the European slave trade included Spain (beginning in 1479); North America (1619); Holland (1625); France (1642); Sweden (1647); and Denmark (1697).