The multi-million dollar Museum of West African Arts (MOWAA), a prestigious cultural project in Edo State in southern Nigeria, has suspended preview events scheduled for this week.MOWAA made the decision after around 20 men, some armed with wooden bats, stormed the museum courtyard on Sunday during a pre-opening event. Guests, including ambassadors and donors, were forced to take refuge inside.“If you were planning on travelling to Benin [City] for the MOWAA preview week, please suspend your travel plans,” a MOWAA statement posted on Instagram says.The incident comes just days after dozens of demonstrators protested outside the Edo state legislature against the museum’s opening.MOWAA has sparked intense political tensions since its conception five years ago.
What is MOWAA?
The new museum is dedicated to preserving and celebrating West Africa’s artistic and cultural heritage. It’s due to house exhibition spaces and archives and aims to host residencies for West African artists and craftspeople.Costing around $25 million (€21.6 million), it’s attracted significant support from international governments and private institutions.Germany, France and Denmark are among those financing the museum as well as the British Museum, the Getty Foundation and the Ford Foundation.Edo State’s former governor also gave some 3.8 million Naira ($2,646) toward the ambitious art project.
Why is MOWAA controversial?
MOWAA has been caught in the crossfire of ownership of the Benin Bronzes.These are thousands of artifacts looted by British soldiers in the 19th century from what was then the Kingdom of Benin, which is now located in Nigeria’s Edo State.The metal artifacts and ivory carvings, which have significant cultural meaning, ended up scattered in collections across Europe and the United States.Nigeria’s former president Muhammadu Buhari declared back in 2023 that the ancient Kingdom of Benin’s traditional ruler, Oba Ewuare II, was the owner of the bronzes. (The non-sovereign kingdom bears no relationship to the African country of Benin.)This meant that any bronzes repatriated to Nigeria must be returned to the Oba.Part of the original premise of MOWAA when it was launched in 2020 was to house the Benin Bronzes, an ambition the museum has since abandoned.Numerous Benin Bronzes have been returned to Nigeria in the past years, including 119 from the Netherlands in June 2025, which were handed directly to the Oba.Oba Ewuare II has said several times that he plans to showcase the returned bronzes, none of which are yet on public display, in a museum of his own.Critics of MOWAA say the museum is a provocation to the Oba and a ploy to take the Benin Bronzes away from him.
MOWAA supporters say museum is a cultural asset
MOWAA supporters say the museum, which is designed by renowned British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye, will make Edo State a global cultural and art hub.Nigeria’s Culture Minister Hannatu Musa Musawa condemned the incident in a statement late Sunday.“The reported disruption at MOWAA not only endangers a treasured cultural asset but also threatens the peaceful environment necessary for cultural exchange and the preservation of our artistic patrimony,” she said in a statement on Instagram.
