Museum of West African Art Delays Opening After Protests
The Nigerian museum has indefinitely postponed its inauguration following a protest on Sunday amid dispute over the ownership of the ‘Benin Bronzes’. Save to My Ocula
Nigeria’s newest art museum has postponed its opening following protests at a Sunday morning preview, resulting in the evacuation of guests—among them donors, industry personnel, and foreign diplomats.
The Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), which was set to open to the public this Tuesday, has now closed indefinitely. In a statement published on Sunday, MOWAA said that ‘the demonstration appeared to stem from disputes between the previous and current state administrations,’ adding that guests were ‘safely escorted’ away.
In a video of the disruption posted on social media, protestors can be heard chanting in favour of the Oba, the traditional ruler of the Kingdom of Benin. This historical empire was located in southern Nigeria, in the present-day state of Edo, whose capital is Benin City, where MOWAA is located.
The kingdom is known today for the ‘Benin Bronzes’, a loose term for the thousands of plaques and portrait sculptures plundered from the royal palace by British troops in the late 19th century. With the artefacts since scattered across Western museums, conversations around restitution and repatriation efforts by Nigeria are ongoing. The current Oba Ewuare II, who yields significant influence in the region, claims ownership of the items.
Although MOWAA was in part originally conceived as a home for the repatriated artefacts, the museum’s ultimate decision to abandon a Benin Bronzes display did not succeed in deterring demonstrators during its opening week.
A museum spokesperson told the BBC they had never made claims to the Benin Bronzes and are ‘focused primarily on modern and contemporary art’, with a historical collections display from Nigeria and West Africa.
‘While MOWAA was mentioned in the wider context of these grievances,’ the museum’s statement explains, ‘we wish to emphasise that MOWAA is an independent, non-profit institution, of which the former governor has no interest, financial or otherwise.’
According to MOWAA director Phillip Ihenacho, protestors entered the front section of the exhibition and vandalised the reception pavilion. Agence-France Presse also reported minor damage to the courtyard. The museum has advised against travel to Benin City during its planned opening week.
The now-delayed inaugural exhibition, Nigeria Imaginary: Homecoming, is an expanded version of the Nigerian Pavilion exhibition at the 2024 Venice Biennale, curated by MOWAA modern and contemporary art curator Aindrea Emelife. —[O]
Main image: Museum of West African Art, Benin City. Courtesy MOWAA.
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