The West African Art Museum, headquartered in Benin, Nigeria, announced on Thursday that it will officially open its campus to the public on November 11.
The Mowaa Campus was first announced in 2020 and the campus plans are a 15-acre complex that is a Institute of Research and Education (Mowaa Institute), The Rainforest Gallery, a boutique hotel (Art Entertainment Room) and a performance space (Craftsman Hall). The entire campus is expected to be completed in 2028, but this fall, visitors will learn about Mowaa for the first time.
In November, the institute will open its inaugural exhibition “Nigeria’s Fictional Hometown” to the public, which will feature multiple buildings on campus. Curated by Aindrea Emelife, an art historian and curator of Mowaa’s modern and modern art, the show is REDUX of the Nigerian Good Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale in Nigeria, which Emelife also planned. Four new artists – Kelani Abass, Modupeola Fadugba, Ngozi-Omeje Ezema and Isaac Emokpae – will join the original lineup. The exhibition will last until April 26, 2026.
View of the entrance to the West African Art Museum in Benin, Nigeria.
Photo tolerance sanus/formesy mowaa
The institute has 48,000 square feet of facilities for archaeological research, conservation, art storage and public programs. Mowaa is planning a series of exhibitions, speeches, workshops and community events to celebrate the opening ceremony.
The launch will be ahead of the two-day preview event, including a symposium that explores the “cultural, political and artistic imagination” of Nigeria, Africa and its global diaspora, guided exhibitions, and city-wide negotiation and lecture programs. Continuous public programs from film screenings to seminars and gallery tours are scheduled for February 2026.
In a statement, Institute director Ore Disu called Mowaa “not just a museum” but also a transformation-centric one. ”
“Global, museums are increasingly being asked to justify their existence, whether through cuts in funds, compensation or the way visitors are declining,” Dusu said. “It is important for us at Mowaa to really embed in context-related practices, regenerate African citations and scholarships, and use the art as a catalyst for real influence… We started this work five years ago and we are proud to continue to show that Africa can open up new ways of thinking and doing things for us because we open up this new ways of thinking and doing things for us, and that’s our work.”
The grand opening comes a year after the institution held the “Making Museum”, a two-day media “hard hat” and 250 invited guests, accompanied by a series of seminars and toured through live archaeological excavations. (The campus is located on the ruins of the ancient city of Benin, with its surviving walls, moats and gates being excavated and incorporated into the new building.)
Last year, Emelife told Artnews In a feature on Mowaa, the team sees the institution as “a hub for blueprints, convening points and outreach activities that help develop and maintain museum infrastructure throughout West Africa, work with our Nigerian living culture (our craftsmen, our local museums), and create meaningful relationships and partnerships with our regional museums, and partnerships with partners across the western and global scale.”
As part of the opening ceremony, Mowaa also announced the establishment of an artist committee to ensure the museum’s program “Body Artist Leadership.” The main names of the Council include Yinka Shonibare, Michael Armitage, Victor Ehikhamenor, Nengi Omuku, Odun Orimolade and Kaloki Nyamai. Members will serve two years, providing guidance on education and residence programs, and advising on exhibitions and research projects. The agency said everyone was selected to connect with other arts organizations throughout the continent.
“The impact of African arts institutions will depend on our ability to work with other organizations across the continent. With that in mind, I look forward to development [Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute] When we built communities between Kenya and Nigeria and expanded the artistic reach on the continent, Mowaa said in a statement.
