Cutting-edge labs and a rainforest Nigeria's hopes for new art museum

Benin City in modern-day Nigeria was once the capital of a bustling kingdom, which left a magnificent artistic legacy of plaques and sculpture in cast bronze that were looted by British colonial forces in 1897.

- Saeed Kamali Dehghan

Now, as an increasing number of western museums are returning artifacts, or pledging to repatriate them, the city is getting a new museum that will put to rest the idea that "Africa has no space and capacity to look after its heritage," says Shadreck Chirikure, a professor of archaeological science at the University of Oxford, and adviser to the new museum.

The Museum of West African Art (Mowaa), a constellation of buildings and outdoor performance spaces on a 6-hectare (15-acre) campus, will hold its inaugural exhibition in May 2025.

While Mowaa will not be the home of the returned bronzes, the impetus that led to its establishment was to address the deficit in infrastructure that had hindered restitution efforts, said the museum.

This month, Mowaa held what it called "the hard hat opening" of its institute building: a research, conservation and collections centre equipped with climate-controlled storage rooms, cutting-edge labs and exhibition spaces.

A series of workshops and live archaeological excavations were held to introduce visitors to Mowaa, and "start an open dialogue on what it means to be an African museum in the 21st century".

Chirikure said Mowaa had the potential "to be among the best in the world for holding returning objects", adding: "It used to be argued that Africa has no space and capacity to look after its heritage.