The Fallout of Nigeria's Impressive $25 M Museum and the Benin Bronzes

The nation's remarkable new Art Museum of West Africa (Mowaa) has ended up in the crosshairs of area political conflicts during the period it was scheduled to – but did not manage – to begin operations to the public for the very first time.

The Ambitious Project

The six-hectare campus sits in the heart of Benin's urban center, main city of the southern region of Edo – and features an excavation site and facilities planned by celebrated dual heritage architect Sir David Adjaye, particularly noted for the National Museum of African American History and Culture that opened in the US capital in 2016.

It has been half a decade in the making – and is envisioned to honor both the past and the current era of artistic expression in the region known for the historic artworks, cultural objects looted from the city's royal palace by UK forces in the nineteenth century.

Setup and Prospects

It is remarkable – and before the scheduled opening, Mowaa was active with employees determined to show it is a venue that can rival well-known art institutions in the Europe and America.

Inside art restorers precisely unwrapped artworks from safety materials, inspecting each item and taking thorough documentation before placing them on exhibition areas and plinths.

Specialists calibrated climate control systems. In the research lab, officers adjusted equipment intended to conserve historical artefacts.

Funding and Economic Goals

The initiative has been the concept of entrepreneur Phillip Ihenacho – currently Mowaa's managing director.

"I want us to have a major economic benefit on communities in the vicinity," he told journalists, adding that he aspired to make Benin City "a cultural destination."

Mowaa, a non-profit Nigerian institution, aims at creating over 30,000 work positions and adding above $80m per year to the regional creative economy through alliances and programming.

Financial Support and Government Issues

It has taken $25m to get here – capital gathered from multiple donors, featuring the European governments, the London institution and the regional authorities.

But currently the local government has withdrawn support from under it – revoking the occupancy of the site on which the museum was built.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 EMOWAA – and it had later dropped "the state identifier" from its name.

Unrest and Official Response

This announcement was preceded by protests on recently, when people stormed the complex demanding it be named the Benin Royal Museum.

A disruptive assembly confronted overseas dignitaries at the museum prior to the launch – requiring them to be quickly removed under official guard.

National leader Bola Tinubu has even become involved to try and resolve the dispute, creating a special task force to do some damage control.

Governance Issues

But how has this evolved into so controversial – and such a public relations crisis?

A great deal of it comes down to internal conflicts at a local state level, as it was Edo's previous governor Godwin Obaseki – whose administration ended last year – who was a major backer of the museum.

And it appears the government of the new governor, a key associate of the local traditional ruler, called the royal figure, may desire greater involvement in the initiative. The protesters on that day, for instance, were insisting that the facility be put under the supervision of Oba Ewuare II.

The Cultural Artifacts Debate

This brings into focus the disputed topic of the cultural artifacts, one of the continent's most famous cultural treasures.

Because though the institution does eventually welcome visitors, these objects will be clearly not present.

They are brass, ivory and timber artworks that once adorned the king's residence of the ancient kingdom before colonial troops stole them in the colonial era during a colonial invasion.

Currently, numerous remain distributed across museums in the West -- featuring the London museum, German museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Repatriation Campaigns

Their repatriation has become one of the most disputed debates in the worldwide cultural sector. About 150 have now come back – and additional are scheduled to be repatriated.

When plans for the institution in Benin City were initially revealed in 2019, the influential figures on the national arts community hoped it would become their ideal location – a state-of-the-art campus to display them to the world.

But the waters were muddied recently after the national authorities declared that the royal leader would be the rightful owner of returned objects – and the palace pushed for a museum under the monarch's supervision, against the preferences of Obaseki.

Diplomatic Challenges

This left Mowaa in a challenging circumstance: maintaining a specific viewpoint on return while remaining diplomatic on ownership – and stressing its broader vision, which led to|c