The Mothership Connection Lands in the Meatpacking District
The Mothership Connection by artist Zak Ove has touched down and stands just short of 30 feet tall in the Meatpacking District, corner of 14th Street and 9th Avenue. Lit up like a beacon from within and resembling a futuristic African rocket ship, this sculpture is especially fascinating to view at night. Credit: Brian J. Pape, AIA.
On 2 September 2025, British-Caribbean artist Zak Ové’s monumental Afrofuturist sculpture The Mothership Connection was installed in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District as part of a major public art activation led by NALA Projects and The Meatpacking Business Improvement District, marking the sculpture’s New York City debut. This installation follows extended stays at London’s Regency Park and Detroit’s The Shepherd, a cultural arts center.
Standing just short of 30 feet tall and lit up like a beacon, The Mothership Connection merges African iconography with sci-fi mythology, resembling a futuristic African rocket ship, crowned with a super-sized Mende headpiece. The work draws from Afrofuturist legacies and diasporic symbolism, and is a vibrant and dynamic display of cross-cultural connections and histories, a testament to New York’s renowned destination and home for cultures across the globe.
Built from brightly colored stainless steel blocks, the work reimagines iconic architectural forms historically constructed through enslaved labor, transforming them into symbols of survival, dignity, and cultural memory – forming a powerful visual metaphor for the African diaspora’s foundational role in shaping the modern world. The Mothership Connection highlights and pays homage to the invisible stories that built the world we know today.
The sculpture looks brand new and well cared for, despite its extensive travels.
With The Mothership Connection, Ove challenges dominant ideals fixing Western modernity as the future, and the relegation of African cultures to the past. Ove’s artwork is an emissary of African cultural histories, presence, and futurity – a powerful act of cultural remembrance and imagination: affirming the past whilst projecting new possibilities into the future.
As New York City celebrates its 400th anniversary, the sculpture creates a radiant testament to the multicultural history and internationalism of New York and the Meatpacking District.
