After more than five years in development, Nigeria’s glitzy Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City was set to host a series of preview events this week ahead of a grand public opening on Tuesday. Instead, it was met with protests.
On Sunday, just hours before the first preview was set to begin, demonstrators gathered at the entrance to the museum campus, demanding to be allowed in. When denied, the crowd entered through another gate, hurling insults and protests at the foreign guests and journalists in attendance. Attendees were quickly escorted off the premises and returned to their hotels, the airport, or other secure locations in the city.
The remaining preview events have been canceled, and the public opening postponed, according to the BBC.
There have been conflicting reports about the reasons for the protests. In a statement posted to Instagram, MOWAA said the unrest “appeared to stem from disputes between the previous and current state administrations.”
“While MOWAA was mentioned in the wider context of those grievances—alongside other development projects—we wish to emphasize that MOWAA is an independent, non-profit institution, of which the former governor has no interest, financial or otherwise,” the statement read.
However, the BBC reported that a local resident claimed the protestors were angry over what they saw as the hijacking of a local initiative.
“The Benin Oba, traditional rulers, and the government of Edo are not happy about it,” the resident said.
MOWAA has drawn criticism throughout its development from the Oba of Benin, the traditional ruler and head of the Edo people. The museum was originally pitched as a future home for repatriated Benin Bronzes—the thousands of objects looted by British troops from the Kingdom of Benin in the 19th century. But that plan unraveled in 2023 when Nigeria’s president granted ownership of the returned bronzes to Ewuare II, the current Oba. He has since announced plans to house them in a new royal museum, which has yet to be built, while MOWAA has pivoted its mission toward contemporary art, archaeological research, and conservation.
Last year, top MOWAA officials told ARTnews that the institution remained open to serving as a technical and institutional advisor to the Oba once the bronzes are received. Still, there had been little public indication ahead of Sunday’s incident that major discontent with the project remained.
This week’s preview events—including two days of talks and workshops—were intended as a celebratory capstone after a long development process marked by delays.
In November of last year, MOWAA hosted “Museum in the Making,” a two-day “hard-hat opening” for media and 250 invited guests, complete with workshops and a tour of the ongoing archaeological excavations on-site. The full 15-acre campus is planned to include a research and education institute (the MOWAA Institute), a contemporary art exhibition space (the Rainforest Gallery), a boutique hotel (the Art Guesthouse), and a performance venue (the Artisans’ Hall), among other facilities.
The MOWAA Institute—comprising 48,000 square feet of space for archaeological research, conservation, art storage, and public programming—was the portion of the campus slated to open this week. The full site is expected to be completed by 2028.
