The nation's impressive new Museum of West African Art (Mowaa) has ended up in the middle of local power politics during the week it was supposed to – but did not manage – to welcome visitors to the general public for the very first time.
The Ambitious Project
The 15-acre facility stands in the core of Benin's urban center, main city of the southern area of Edo – and features an excavation site and buildings planned by high-profile dual heritage architect Sir David Adjaye, best known for the National Museum of African American History and Culture that was inaugurated in Washington DC in 2016.
It has been half a decade in the development – and is designed to celebrate both the history and the present of cultural innovation in the region renowned for the Benin Bronzes, cultural objects stolen from the city's royal palace by British soldiers in the nineteenth century.
Readiness and Potential
It is impressive – and ahead of the planned opening, Mowaa was buzzing with workers resolved to show it is a institution that can rival well-known museums and galleries in the West.
Internally conservators meticulously opened art pieces from safety materials, checking each item and taking meticulous records before positioning them on display surfaces and stands.
Experts calibrated climate control systems. In the scientific facility, personnel calibrated equipment intended to preserve ancient artefacts.
Investment and Economic Plans
The initiative has been the brainchild of investor Phillip Ihenacho – currently Mowaa's managing director.
"I aim us to have a substantial economic benefit on area populations around here," he told journalists, mentioning that he wanted to make the city "an arts hub."
Mowaa, a charitable local organization, aims at creating in excess of 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and adding more than $80m per year to the regional creative economy through partnerships and activities.
Investment and Administrative Problems
It has taken $25m to reach this point – capital collected from various donors, including the French and German governments, the British Museum and the regional authorities.
But currently the regional administration has revoked permission from below it – revoking the occupancy of the site on which the facility was constructed.
An government communicator clarified this was because in the early agreements it had identified as EMOWAA – and it had since removed "Edo" from its name.
Demonstrations and Government Action
This statement was preceded by rallies on Sunday, when people entered the facility calling for it be designated the Museum of the Benin Kingdom.
A boisterous assembly harassed foreign guests at the museum ahead of the opening – compelling them to be hurried away under security protection.
Head of state Bola Tinubu has additionally become involved to attempt to settle the tensions, establishing a high-level committee to address the controversy.
Political Complexities
But why has this evolved into so divisive – and such a public relations crisis?
Much of it results from internecine rivalries at a area administrative level, as it was the former state leader Godwin Obaseki – whose term in office ended the previous year – who was a primary advocate of the museum.
And it looks like the leadership of the recently elected official, a strong supporter of the area king, referred to as the royal figure, may seek more of a stake in the project. The activists on that day, for instance, were calling for that the museum be positioned under the authority of the current Oba.
The Benin Bronzes Controversy
This emphasizes the disputed topic of the Benin Bronzes, one of the region's most famous artistic heritage.
Because even if the museum does finally begin operations, these objects will be clearly not present.
They are brass, elephant tusk and wooden artworks that once decorated the royal palace of the Benin Kingdom before colonial troops stole them in 1897 during a colonial invasion.
Today, thousands continue to be scattered across museums in the West -- such as the UK institution, European center and the New York institution.
Repatriation Campaigns
Their return has become one of the most disputed debates in the global art world. Roughly 150 have presently been returned – and additional are due to follow.
When plans for the institution in the urban center were originally proposed in recent years, the movers and shakers on the country's cultural sector anticipated it would become their perfect venue – a advanced campus to exhibit them to the global audience.
But the waters were muddied recently after the federal government stated that the Oba would be the proper guardian of repatriated artifacts – and the palace advocated for a institution under the royal family's direct control, opposing the preferences of Obaseki.
Strategic Positioning
This left Mowaa in a difficult situation: expressing a clear stance on repatriation while remaining diplomatic on guardianship – and stressing its wider mission, which led to|c
