On 11 November 2025, the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) opens to the public in Benin City, Nigeria—anchored within a six‑hectare campus built to display both ancient heritage and contemporary creativity.

The newly unveiled MOWAA Institute, offering 4,500 sqm of sustainable research and conservation space designed by Adjaye Associates, is the first building to be completed. It houses climate-controlled storage, labs, an auditorium, library, and gallery spaces for rotating and permanent exhibitions.

MOWAA’s opening exhibition, “Nigeria Imaginary: Homecoming”, reinterprets Nigeria’s 2024 Venice Biennale pavilion and includes works by artists such as Tunji Adeniyi‑Jones, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Precious Okoyomon, and Yinka Shonibare—alongside newly commissioned pieces by Kelani Abass, Modupeola Fadugba, Ngozi‑Omeje Ezema, and Isaac Emokpae.

The site also includes the Rainforest Gallery for contemporary art shows set in replanted forest surroundings, an Art Guesthouse for visiting researchers and artists, and the Artisans’ Hall, a modern nod to Benin Kingdom architecture supporting local craft and retail spaces.

In mid‑2025, MOWAA launched public programmes inside the Institute building, showcasing repatriated Benin Bronzes and other objects loaned or transferred from Western museums. These include 119 bronzes returned from the Netherlands in June 2025 and earlier gifts from institutions including the Horniman Museum, Smithsonian, and Netherlands collections.

MOWAA director Ore Disu and adviser Professor Shadreck Chirikure underscore the museum as a symbol of African capacity for stewarding complex heritage. It is framed as a hub for culturally rooted programming, educational exchange, and regional artistic innovation—not merely a museum, but a built-time dialogue rooted in place and purpose.

Sources

• Ocula: Nigeria’s Museum of West African Art to House Returned Artefacts ocula.com+11ocula.com+11wearemowaa.org+11

• MoreBranches: MOWAA Announces Official Public Opening in Benin City morebranches.com

• WeAreMOWAA official site: Opening announcement, exhibitions details rdcclimited.com+12wearemowaa.org+12africanscolumn.com+12

• The Guardian: Museum builds cutting‑edge labs, rainforest gallery and guesthouse travelmole.com+5theguardian.com+5christies.com+5

• TravelMole: Nigeria to open Africa’s most spectacular art museum ocula.com+3travelmole.com+3theguardian.com+3

• Wikipedia: Museum and Benin Bronzes repatriation context en.wikipedia.org+6en.wikipedia.org+6en.wikipedia.org+6