Nigeria's impressive new West African Art Museum (Mowaa) has ended up in the center of area political conflicts during the period it was expected to – but was unable – to open its doors to the public for the first time.
The Ambitious Project
The six-hectare facility sits in the center of Benin City, main city of the southern region of Edo – and features an excavation site and buildings created by high-profile dual heritage architect Sir David Adjaye, best known for the Washington African American Museum that opened in Washington in 2016.
It has been five years in the development – and is planned to showcase both the history and the current era of cultural innovation in the locale known for the cultural artifacts, cultural objects looted from the royal palace by UK forces in the nineteenth century.
Setup and Prospects
It is notable – and before the scheduled opening, Mowaa was energetic with workers resolved to prove it is a venue that can rival well-known museums and galleries in the West.
Internally conservators meticulously revealed artworks from safety materials, checking each piece and taking detailed notes before positioning them on exhibition areas and plinths.
Experts adjusted environmental controls. In the scientific facility, personnel set up instruments meant to conserve ancient objects.
Financial Backing and Economic Vision
The venture has been the idea of entrepreneur Phillip Ihenacho – currently Mowaa's managing director.
"I aim us to have a substantial economic impact on communities around here," he told journalists, adding that he wanted to make this urban center "an arts hub."
Mowaa, a charitable local organization, sees itself generating more than 30,000 employment opportunities and adding more than $80m annually to the area arts sector through partnerships and activities.
Investment and Administrative Problems
It has required $25m to achieve this stage – funds raised from various supporters, such as the European governments, the London institution and the local administration.
But now the regional administration has pulled the rug from beneath it – terminating the occupancy of the site on which the museum was built.
An official representative stated this was because in the initial documents it had referred to itself as the Edo-named institution – and it had later removed "the state identifier" from its title.
Demonstrations and Government Action
This declaration was preceded by protests on Sunday, when protesters stormed the complex demanding it be named the Museum of the Benin Kingdom.
A rowdy crowd confronted foreign guests at the facility ahead of the launch – forcing them to be quickly removed under police escort.
President Bola Tinubu has also stepped in to try and resolve the tensions, creating a special task force to address the controversy.
Governance Issues
But how has this turned into so divisive – and such a PR disaster?
The majority of it stems from local power struggles at a local state level, as it was the former state leader Godwin Obaseki – whose administration ended last year – who was a key supporter of the project.
And it seems the leadership of the current leader, a key associate of the regional monarch, called the Oba, may want more of a stake in the initiative. The demonstrators on that day, for instance, were calling for that the institution be put under the control of Oba Ewuare II.
The Benin Bronzes Controversy
This brings into focus the controversial matter of the historical artworks, one of the region's most celebrated artistic heritage.
Because though the facility does eventually begin operations, these objects will be clearly not present.
They are brass, ivory and wooden sculptures that once embellished the royal palace of the ancient kingdom before British soldiers took them in the colonial era during a punitive expedition.
Today, numerous continue to be scattered across galleries in Western nations -- such as the UK institution, German museum and the New York institution.
Return Initiatives
Their repatriation has become one of the most debated debates in the international art community. Roughly 150 have now been returned – and further are expected to return.
When proposals for the institution in the urban center were originally proposed in the pre-pandemic era, the key players on the national arts community hoped it would become their natural home – a state-of-the-art complex to show them off to the global audience.
But the waters were muddied recently after the federal government stated that the Oba would be the legal custodian of returned objects – and the palace campaigned for a facility under the king's authority, against the wishes of Obaseki.
Political Navigation
This left Mowaa in a difficult situation: asserting a clear stance on return while remaining diplomatic on guardianship – and emphasising its wider mission, which led to|c
