The nation's stunning new West African Art Museum (Mowaa) has landed in the center of area political conflicts during the time it was scheduled to – but did not manage – to begin operations to the general public for the first time.
The Ambitious Project
The six-hectare campus stands in the heart of the Edo state capital, administrative center of the southern state of Edo – and features an excavation site and structures planned by high-profile British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, most famous for the Smithsonian African American Museum that opened in Washington DC in 2016.
It has been half a decade in the making – and is designed to honor both the past and the current era of cultural innovation in the area renowned for the Benin Bronzes, historical pieces looted from the royal palace by British soldiers in the 1800s.
Setup and Prospects
It is impressive – and before the scheduled opening, Mowaa was energetic with staff determined to show it is a institution that can compete with established museums and galleries in the Europe and America.
Inside art restorers meticulously unwrapped cultural items from secure wrapping, checking each artifact and taking meticulous records before arranging them on exhibition areas and stands.
Technicians fine-tuned climate control systems. In the scientific facility, officers calibrated equipment meant to maintain ancient objects.
Funding and Economic Goals
The initiative has been the brainchild of entrepreneur Phillip Ihenacho – now Mowaa's executive director.
"I hope us to have a major economic benefit on area populations in the vicinity," he stated to journalists, noting that he aspired to make the city "a tourism center."
Mowaa, a non-profit local organization, sees itself creating more than 30,000 work positions and adding above $80m annually to the local cultural industry through alliances and programming.
Financial Support and Government Issues
It has taken $25m to get here – funds gathered from different donors, featuring the international partners, the London institution and the local administration.
But now the regional administration has revoked permission from beneath it – canceling the utilization of the site on which the museum was built.
An official representative clarified this was because in the initial documents it had called itself Edo Museum of West African Art – and it had later removed "the state identifier" from its title.
Protests and Political Intervention
This statement came after protests on Sunday, when activists stormed the campus insisting it be named the Museum of the Benin Kingdom.
A rowdy crowd confronted international visitors at the museum before the inauguration – requiring them to be escorted out under police escort.
Head of state Bola Tinubu has also become involved to try and resolve the tensions, setting up a presidential committee to address the controversy.
Governance Issues
But in what way has this become so controversial – and such a PR disaster?
A great deal of it comes down to internecine rivalries at a regional government level, as it was Edo's previous governor Godwin Obaseki – whose term in office ended last year – who was a primary advocate of the initiative.
And it seems the leadership of the recently elected official, a strong supporter of the regional monarch, called the Oba, may desire more of a stake in the venture. The activists on the weekend, for case, were calling for that the facility be placed under the control of the royal leader.
The Benin Bronzes Controversy
This brings into focus the contentious issue of the cultural artifacts, one of the continent's most famous historical legacy.
Because even if the museum does eventually begin operations, these artifacts will be conspicuously absent.
They are metal, elephant tusk and wooden sculptures that once decorated the royal palace of the historical empire before UK forces looted them in the colonial era during a punitive expedition.
Nowadays, thousands remain spread across institutions in Western nations -- including the UK institution, German museum and the New York institution.
Return Initiatives
Their homecoming has become one of the most disputed conversations in the global art world. Roughly 150 have currently been returned – and more are due to follow.
When proposals for the institution in Benin City were first announced in the pre-pandemic era, the key players on the national arts community hoped it would become their ideal location – a modern complex to display them to the world.
But the issues became confused two years ago after the central administration declared that the traditional ruler would be the proper guardian of repatriated artifacts – and the royal household pushed for a museum under the royal family's direct control, against the preferences of the former governor.
Political Navigation
This placed Mowaa in a difficult situation: expressing a clear stance on repatriation while remaining diplomatic on ownership – and emphasising its wider mission, which led to|c
