Dedicated to promoting heritage management and fostering creative collaborations and connections, the MOWAA Institute, an academic arm of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) will officially open in November 2024.
Located in the historic heart of Benin City, the MOWAA Campus will welcome visitors from all over the West African region, with a variety of complementary facilities and public spaces for exhibition, performance, interaction and commerce, designed through the collaboration of local and international architects.
The MOWAA Institute will support museums and cultural organisations in West Africa as a place for ongoing research and a centre for training in archaeology, conservation, heritage management and museum practice. The Institute will also serve as a centre for knowledge generation and creative collaborations, with a purpose-built arts storage and conservation laboratory at the centre.
The MOWAA Institute’s ground floor building offers highly sustainable indoor space for state-of-the-art facilities, archaeological research, conservation and public programmes. It has an exhibition gallery in the atrium overlooking the collection’s study area, a 100-seat auditorium, conference rooms, conservation laboratories, a library and an open-air amphitheatre. Located on the former moats of the Kingdom of Benin, the rammed earth construction links the building to the West African heritage that will be honoured by MOWAA throughout the Creative Campus.
