"What the Museum is doing is amazing, and I support it wholeheartedly. It’s essential; there’s an institution actually made for local people in their own way, on their own terms.” 
Artist, Yinka Shonibare, CBE, RA

The Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) - a fantastic project coming together in Benin City in Nigeria - has recently announced that they will open the MOWAA Institute later this year. This is a fascinating first piece in the jigsaw, part of a 15 acre campus of buildings and facilities under development. 

The MOWAA Institute will be not only be a centre for research but will support museums and cultural organisations across West Africa and become, in their words, “a hub for training in archaeology, conservation, heritage management and museum practice”. 

“Our decision to start with the MOWAA Institute is ... no accident. It was a deliberate, strategic decision to begin with a strong foundation for artists and heritage managers and to instil a sense of collective responsibility to work together to preserve and celebrate heritage,” explains Phillip Ihenacho, Executive Director and Chairman of MOWAA. 

The MOWAA Institute will open on 4 November with two days of events on the theme of Museum in the Making: Rediscovering a West African identity, philosophy and practice. 

MOWAA describes itself as, “as an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of heritage, the expansion of knowledge, and the celebration of West African arts and culture. Through ongoing partnerships, MOWAA offers programs and resources that foster deeper connections between contemporary art and culture and the rich heritage of West Africa while creating a centre of excellence for African and diaspora artists and scholars.”