By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 26 2025 – Ahead of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade on March 24, the United Nations (UN) unveiled a new exhibition examining the themes of equality and transformative solidarity in the context of the African diaspora.

The Stories of Us, curated by the organization of the same name and the UN Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery, features a series of sculptures by the artists Alanis Forde, Francks Deceus, Láolú, Leasho Johnson and Marryam Moma.
The objective of the exhibition was to showcase the importance of inclusivity, culture, progress, and freedom from the perspective of Afro-descendent artists. The history of the transatlantic slave trade, its ramifications, as well as the enduring racism and discrimination that stifles an inclusive future are some of the essential themes in this collection. The sculpture exhibition is open to all visitors in UN Headquarters in New York City until 25 April.

Nigerian artist Láolú explores the origins of the African diaspora, particularly the Yoruba culture, in the sculpture Afromations. This monochromatic piece depicts a series of figures stylized to resemble traditional Yoruba paintings alongside various symbols including eyes, hearts, and a drum.

Additionally, phrases such as “talented”, “beautiful”, “not like us”, “purpose” and “courage” are incorporated in this piece to describe the African diaspora. According to Láolú, this piece is not only a celebration of the Black identity and its origins, but also a response to the loss of culture as a result of racism.

Afromations by Láolú. Credit: Oritro Karim/IPS

“This has become a very important part of my consciousness since I started living outside of West Africa, where I had never experienced the everyday prejudice that exists elsewhere. The memories of those who have become ancestors too soon call on us to stand for and with one another to demand and work for change. In many ways, this sculpture is inspired by our ancestors,” said Láolú

Tanzanian-Nigerian artist Marryam Moma’s sculpture Melanin Machina focuses on themes of technological advancement and community. Several images of people of African descent who have occupied culturally significant roles throughout history can be seen in the piece, including John Lewis, Lauren Tate Baeza, and sisters Zoey and Nola Jones.

These figures are depicted in robotic suits, along a circuit board backdrop and additional computerized elements. It is apparent that the figures are inextricable from the suits, which is a metaphor for the advancement of technology being permanently ingrained in humanity. A multitude of golden symbols can be seen throughout the piece, symbolizing prosperity.

Ashley Shaw Scott Adjaye, the co-founder of The Stories of Us, opined that the piece showcases the hope and uncertainty that technological advancement brings. Adjaye and our IPS correspondent agreed that Melanin Machina shows the dangers of over-reliance on technology as well as an endless array of possibilities for progress.

“The subjects are presented as hybrid forms that embrace technological advances, while prioritising our health, well-being and security. There is often a lot of fear when it comes to technology and how rapidly it is changing the world. In this moment of transformation, we have to embrace and direct technology so that it serves us. Technology is not our master, but we must master it as a tool of human advancement,” said Moma.

Leasho Johnson’s sculpture, Man Standing in a Cane Field, explores the theme of emancipation, with a specific focus on the abolition of slavery in the Americas. The piece features three different abstract portraits, all depicting the different experiences of enslaved Black people.

The first of these portraits depicts the silhouette of a man standing in a thicket of sugar canes. “It is a man, but not quite belonging to himself-the body is a property of industry”, Johnson explained. This portrait shows the exploitation of Black bodies, as well as his lack of autonomy. Additionally, this portion of the sculpture emphasizes the importance of the remembrance of slavery and the decades of strife among people of African descent.

The second portrait shows a man emerging from a cane field, yet finding it difficult to fully disconnect. This symbolizes the difficulty of processing generational trauma and advancing in life. “Even in looking back, he’s still carrying that history with him. It speaks to the journey of transformation that is never immediate- it is an emergence. It is processing and facing the past, in order to move forward”, said Johnson.

The third portrait in this sculpture was inspired by the dancehall artist King Yellowman, depicting a man struggling with health issues, poverty, and discrimination surrounding his albinism. Adjaye remarked to our IPS correspondent that the depiction of the man’s jaw was particularly jarring as it contrasted with the rest of the sculpture and was an immediate point of attention.

This portion shows the repercussions of slavery and the innate value of a person despite immense hardship. Johnson hopes for viewers to take the time to look beyond the surface when looking at themselves and others. “And yet I see (King Yellowman) as someone that erupts with inner value and strength that you experience in how his music creates space for joy, irreverence and the awakening of our bodies – for people to become something more than they are. For me, he is the embodiment of our ability as people to transcend what the stereotypes and current realities expect of us, rooted in our dignity and self-worth,” Johnson said.

Alanis Forde’s sculpture Infinite Journey focuses on themes of personal growth in relation to transformative solidarity. This piece depicts a self-portrait of Forde in which she is lying down and staring at her phone, illustrating the positive aspects of technology and digitization.

Forde is drawn to have several sets of arms and several flowers erupting from her hair. According to Forde, the flowers are representative of her home country, Barbados. Additionally, Forde’s use of pointillism for the subject’s skin and hair establishes the subject as organic and intertwined with both nature and technology. Forde added that this was done to represent “cellular changes” that occur within us all.

“For me the blue dots and transformations have meant both self realisation and the use of an organic armour, of scales, that help me thrive in different settings – speaking to the transformation I also experience as I leave and come back to Barbados. Sometimes we are one thing in one space and something else in another. How can we be our authentic, best selves in all spaces? The digital world allows us to explore that,” said Forde.

Infinite Journey by Alanis Forde. Credit: Oritro Karim/IPS

The final piece in this exhibition is from Haitian artist Francks Deceus, titled Carib-Olympics. This sculpture examines the concept of “Good Trouble”, which “honors global efforts to assert humanity”. It depicts a group of swimmers participating in an Olympics-style swimming race, with a Haitian swimmer at the lead. Swimmers from other nations follow behind.

This represents both the Haitian revolution and the desire for nations with a primarily Black population to achieve economic and social progress. A significant portion of the sculpture depicts several yellow lifesavers, which Adjaye interprets as a representation of international humanitarian aid, which is often unsuccessful in truly advancing development for nations, and rather act as obstacles. Deceus, although open to this interpretation, stated that the yellow lifesavers are representative of the international pressure that unbalanced power dynamics put on people of color.

Deceus told our IPS correspondent that the pool water in this sculpture is “definitely rough ocean water”, representing the struggle for these nations to not only stay afloat but to thrive. Additionally, this acts as a nod to the transatlantic slave trade and the generations that descended from enslaved populations that were brought to colonized lands.

“Haiti has repeatedly been dealt a difficult hand. The historic enslavement of its people left the new independent nation unbearably poor. But this painting reminds us that anything is achievable if we pull together and come together, under one banner,” Deceus explained. “The swimming pool shows that when the barriers of segregation come down and there is opportunity, breakthrough success follows…And even as we have shared direction, we have our shared journeys, and it is through the learning of those different experiences that we discover empathy and solidarity”.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Mar 26 2025 – On March 26, Israel and Egypt celebrated the 46th anniversary of their peace treaty, which has upended the very nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Egypt remains pivotal in the search for Israeli-Palestinian peace, especially now in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.

US President Ronald Reagan and Egyptian President Anwar Al-Sadat at a press briefing, August 1981. Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library.

It is hard to exaggerate the late Egyptian President Anwar Al-Sadat’s courage when he journeyed to Israel with an olive branch in November 1977. Only a decade before, Egypt’s first President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, fervently and categorically rejected Israel’s very existence, stating, “We will not accept any… coexistence with Israel.”

Ending the 1973 Yom Kippur War with the return of the Sinai to Egypt without making a significant concession to Israel, made it possible for Sadat ‘to claim victory,’ which strengthened his standing in the eyes of the public and allowed him to later travel to Israel as a ‘victor.’ He was received in Israel as a great statesman with an honor guard, creating an indelible mark in the minds of Israelis and Egyptians alike.

Sadat’s visionary leadership, matched by Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and President Carter’s determination to seize the hour and mediate between them, paved the way for the historic Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, signed on March 26, 1979. The treaty has endured for the past 46 years because, from its inception, it has served the long- and short-term geostrategic interests and mutual economic and security benefits of both countries.

Although Egyptian and Israeli governments have changed hands several times over the past 46 years, both sides continue to fully adhere to the treaty’s terms, recognizing its crucial geostrategic importance for their respective countries. Thus, the treaty withstood the test of time despite regional instability and the continuing violent Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The treaty has transcended its monumental implications and benefits for Israel and Egypt. It has fundamentally changed the psychological and political dimensions of the Arab-Israeli conflict as it began to resonate among the Arab states after nearly a decade of chastising and sanctioning Egypt for breaking the Arab world’s bloc of enmity against Israel.

Preventing an Arab-Israeli war

With the signing of the treaty, it became clear that Israeli-Egyptian peace would prevent any possibility of an all-out Arab-Israeli war. Egypt has been and continues to be the strongest Arab country militarily, and without it, the Arab states would not start a war against Israel that would surely end in utter defeat.

Without the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, it would have been inconceivable that any of these peace agreements would be established. In 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) established a framework for peace and mutual recognition. In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty.

In 2002, Saudi Arabia introduced the Arab Peace Initiative (API), adopted by the Council of Arab States, which de facto recognized Israel’s right to exist, albeit conditional upon the establishment of a Palestinian state. And in late 2020 and early 2021, the Abraham Accords were signed between Israel and, individually, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

That is, the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty changed the trajectory of the Arab-Israeli conflict in that it psychologically adjusted the Arab States’ mindset toward Israel’s irrevocable existence and opened the door for a political solution, albeit slowly given the continuing conflict with the Palestinians.

Although Saudi Arabia has gained greater prominence in Arab affairs than Egypt over the past decade, Egypt remains central in the search for Israeli-Palestinian peace regardless of its ultimate contour, especially now in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. Without Egypt’s direct involvement and consent about Gaza’s future in the context of Israeli-Palestinian peace, no solution can be achieved.

Egypt has traditionally been involved directly and indirectly in Gaza. It was in control of Gaza until Israel conquered the enclave during the 1967 Six-Day War and has been engaged time and again in mediating the repeating conflagrations between Israel and Hamas.

At no time, however, has Egypt been more directly involved in the Israel-Hamas conflict than it has since Hamas’ October 2023 attack and Israel’s war of retaliation. Regardless of the eventual outcome of this conflict, Egypt will be affected directly, and hence, it has every right to play a direct role in shaping the ultimate solution.

Today, the question is whether Egypt’s President Sisi will show the same courage as Sadat to take the lead and use the 46th anniversary as a turning point, starting by insisting on a framework for the future of Gaza in the context of ending the Israel-Hamas war and ultimately the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Arab Summit in Cairo, held on March 4, which included Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, endorsed Egypt’s comprehensive plan for Gaza’s reconstruction, which aims to rebuild the territory over five years at a cost of $53 billion without displacing its residents. The plan excludes Hamas from future governance, proposing instead a technocratic Palestinian committee under the Palestinian Authority’s oversight.

It emphasizes the need for security, training Palestinian forces, and international support, including potential UN peacekeeping forces. The plan also categorically rejected Trump’s outlandish idea to relocate Palestinians and transform Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Given that Israel will be affected by any plans regarding the future of Gaza, President Sisi should begin to conduct bilateral discussions with Israel to establish exit plans for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in several stages. Egypt is in a position to disabuse Israel from ever entertaining the idea of exiling the Palestinians from Gaza, threatening that this would jeopardize the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Following the Arab Summit, President Sisi said, “The time has come to adopt a serious and effective political pathway that leads to a fair and lasting solution for the Palestinian cause, in accordance to the resolutions of international legitimacy. I have faith that President Trump is capable of doing this.”

Although both Israel and Egypt would like to see Hamas eliminated, they also know that it would be out of their reach as Hamas will remain a relevant player that cannot be discarded. The summit has not ruled out some role for Hamas in implementing the Egyptian initiative.

Indeed, given how battered Hamas is following 17 months of war that devasted much of its armed forces and laid two-thirds of Gaza in ruin, Hamas began in recent weeks to send mixed signals about its future in Gaza. It has shown a willingness to discuss demilitarization as an end goal of a peace process.

Hamas official Husam Badran said that the group was willing to step aside from governing, stating that “Our only condition is for this to be an internal Palestinian matter… As long as there is a national consensus, Hamas will not be involved in the governance.”

The historic Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty remains the bedrock of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. The main obstacle to achieving this still is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No one is in a better place than President Sisi, who can use Egypt’s indispensable role to advance the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, starting with the establishment of an end-game to the war in Gaza.

There is no time better than now to move aggressively toward that end as Egypt and Israel celebrate the 46th anniversary of their peace agreement. Can Sisi rise to the occasion and match Sadat’s vision and courage?

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

IPS UN Bureau

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