MOWAA
The Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) will open its doors in Benin City on November 11, 2025, inaugurating an ambitious cultural campus dedicated to West African art and heritage. The MOWAA Institute, the first building on the site, is an ultra-modern center designed for the conservation, research, development and archiving of collections. Entirely designed to meet the contemporary challenges of heritage preservation, it includes conservation laboratories, air-conditioned archives, a 100-seat auditorium, an exhibition gallery and specialized areas for archaeology, materials science and digital technology.
The launch is accompanied by the inaugural exhibition "Nigeria Imaginary: Homecoming", an enhanced version of the Nigeria Pavilion presented at the Venice Biennale 2024. This collective presentation brings together a dozen contemporary artists, including some emerging figures, and questions traditional narratives, suggesting a plural Nigeria, made up of ruptures, desire and multiple histories.
Set in the heart of the historic city, the campus marks a symbolic reappropriation: the buildings are organized around renewed gardens, including a Rainforest Gallery planted with over 2,000 indigenous species. This public garden reconciles botanical and contemporary heritage in an open-air gallery. Eventually, the campus will also integrate an outdoor gallery, a performance structure, a boutique hotel, a café and artists' studios, encouraging creation and exchange.
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