The Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) continues building its physical campus. Soon, its mission of preserving, highlighting, and fostering art on the continent will be grounded in Benin City, Nigeria.
Once finished, the 15-acre campus will house a “rainforest gallery,” a guesthouse for short-term residencies, green spaces, and more. The main building, The Institute, will be a hub of displayed artwork, research, public programming, and thought-provoking conversations. The museum’s website also promises a 180-seat auditorium, conference rooms, a library, and an archaeological science lab. The digital lab, also inside The Institute, will be dedicated to making African cultural content more accessible via digital catalogs.
The Museum of West African Art strives to be a leading infrastructure in fostering, showcasing, and preserving the region’s heritage, culture, and scholarship. Shadreck Chirikure, a professor of archaeological science at the University of Oxford – and a new MOWAA adviser – spoke to The Guardian about the importance of the Benin City site.
“It used to be argued that Africa has no space and capacity to look after its heritage,” he noted. “If there were those who did not believe in the vision or that Africans can do it, the opening of The Institute demonstrates that MOWAA is now a reality, and that contemporary Africans, like their ancestors who made the famous Benin bronzes, are capable of looking after their heritage using the highest standards found anywhere in the world.”
Is The Museum Of West African Art Open?
The inaugural exhibition in The Institute will reportedly debut in May 2025 and the site’s Atrium in mid-2025. The latter space will allegedly be home to MOWAA’s long-term collection.
Although eager art lovers still have several months to wait, the Museum of West African Art welcomes visitors to engage and explore. The organization is hosting programs to encourage important conversations about African art and MOWAA’s role. The site also held a hard hat opening in November during its “Museum in the Making” event.
