There was no quiet on 125th Street, in Harlem, New York, on International Peace Day. Ndunga arrived September 21, when causing great commotion.

’I chose that day because it is a day we need to put some attention to,’ says Trinidad-born Sandra Bell who was commissioned to create Ndunga.

’There is so much strife and disharmony in the world and that day is about peace and finding a solution in you, your neighbour, or your nation.’

With hands clapping and feet tapping, expressions of great joy and jubilation, African dancers and drummers celebrating Ndunga’s ancestral past and New York City future welcomed the majestic presence.

Shrouded in a cloak of thousands of dried Lacatan and Brazilian banana leaves and a face of blazing bronze, Ndunga stood regal and righteous on the plaza of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Building taking a place in history and among Black royalty.

Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass and so many other black world figures had stood in that same spot, at one time or another. Ndunga was in great company.

’I raised the bar of public art,’ says Bell with great pride. ’In Harlem, its tallest building, the State Building, Ndunga is there for everyone to see, a quality piece,’ she adds.

’It was also a chance to extend my own artistic vision.’ Instead of a museum Bell chose the streets. ’It is art for the people. It is on public display. So every day, people can see it without having to go to a museum.’

Standing 12 feet tall, Ndunga, is an ancestral piece that pays tribute to the Congo. A Congolese masquerade, ’Ndunga appears in ceremonies to warn villagers of injustices against themselves and towards others.’

Harlem became Ndunga’s home because that is where Bell got the support and the money. ’There is an arts-minded movement in Harlem and they are very supportive of artists,’ says the Park Slope, Brooklyn, native.

The cost of Ndunga is still rising. To date, over US$100,000 has been spent on the installation. Ndunga took about nine months to birth. The banana leaves were shipped from plantations in St. Vincent and Brazil.

Working hand-in-hand with her associate producer, Diego Martin native, Cinti Salandy, Bell and her cousin Glendon Morris got to work with three others. The greatest challenge for the artists was acquiring a space large enough to build the colossal figure with a doorway wide enough to get it out.   

’I love making Mas. I’m a Morris,’ laughs Bell. ’We making Mas since the days of my grandfathers.’ She is a third generation Morris, the niece of legendary sculptor and Mas man Ken Morris. She grew up in Belmont but left for Brooklyn at age 12.

She is a well known and highly respected artist and show producer in New York City. A graduate of New York University, Bell is celebrated in the African-American and Caribbean community as a powerhouse, full of energy and life and overflowing with ideas.

Five years ago, Bell was commissioned by the Museum of African Art to create several masks and was shocked by the response she received.

’It wasn’t the prettiest thing but it was certainly the most attractive,’ she says about the collection which generated so such excitement and traffic that the museum had to station a security guard to protect the work and stop curious onlookers from touching.

She decided to extend the concept on to the streets of New York with the creation of the massive Ndunga for International World Peace day.

’It’s a combination of art and social justice and humanity,’ she says. ’Hopefully, it will inspire others.’