The Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), located in Benin City, Nigeria, which will be officially opened to the public on November 4, 2024, recently received a significant boost in the form of a $3 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. This financial injection marks a pivotal moment for MOWAA, a young institution founded in 2020 with the mission to preserve West Africa’s rich artistic and cultural heritage. It also represents a broader shift in arts management across the continent, where limited resources and infrastructure have historically hampered the preservation and promotion of the region’s cultural wealth. For MOWAA and West African arts, this is an opportunity to realign themselves with both the global and local cultural spheres.
MOWAA’s Vision and Strategic Role
MOWAA was established with a lofty mission: to create a repository of West African cultural artifacts, provide education on the region’s arts, and foster cultural exchange. Its location in Benin City is no accident. Benin City is the historic capital of the ancient Benin Kingdom, renowned for its artistry, particularly its famous bronze sculptures, many of which were looted by British forces in 1897 and dispersed across the world. MOWAA seeks to reverse this dispersal by offering a homegrown institution where West African art can be celebrated and conserved.
Yet, MOWAA is not just a place to store and exhibit art; it is positioning itself as a regional hub for cultural research and preservation. Its operations are underpinned by its mission to provide education and research facilities that connect the past to the present, ensuring that the knowledge and skill embodied in West African art traditions are passed down to future generations. The museum’s ambitions extend far beyond exhibitions. They encompass archaeological research, heritage management programs, interdisciplinary residencies, and the documentation of Benin’s ancient moats—testaments to its unique history.
A Transformational Grant
The $3 million grant from the Mellon Foundation will enable MOWAA to take significant strides toward achieving its objectives. The funds will be deployed over three years across several key areas: infrastructure development, digital transformation, and educational initiatives.
One of the cornerstone initiatives will focus on building exemplary collections management systems, bringing MOWAA in line with international museum standards. This includes advanced conservation techniques and a digital cataloging project to make its collection accessible to a global audience. A portion of the funds will also be dedicated to training programs aimed at nurturing a new generation of African curators, archivists, and conservators. Additionally, the museum plans to launch interdisciplinary residencies and commissions, providing artists and scholars a platform to explore the intersection of contemporary practice with traditional West African art forms.
The Mellon Foundation’s Commitment
The Mellon Foundation, established in 1969, has a long history of supporting the arts, particularly in underfunded regions. While its focus has traditionally been on the United States, the foundation has increasingly turned its attention to Africa. Its support for MOWAA is part of a broader initiative to fund cultural projects that engage with critical questions of identity, history, and restitution. By allocating significant funds to MOWAA, the Mellon Foundation is signaling a commitment to rebalancing the global cultural landscape, supporting African institutions as they assert control over their narratives and collections.
The Mellon Foundation’s role in global arts initiatives has grown substantially in recent years, and its investment in Africa is notable. This grant follows a series of investments in African arts institutions, including the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) in Cape Town and the National Museum of Mali. These initiatives reflect a strategic recognition of Africa’s vast, yet often overlooked, cultural wealth.
Looking Ahead
Experts in African art and museum management see this grant as a potential game-changer. By equipping MOWAA with the financial and technical resources it needs to develop world-class operations, the grant sets a precedent for other institutions on the continent. MOWAA’s success could spark a wave of similar initiatives, encouraging greater investment in Africa’s cultural infrastructure.
Dr. Sylvester Ogbechie, a scholar of African art history, notes that “MOWAA’s development signals a critical shift in how West African institutions can assert themselves globally. For too long, the narrative of African art has been controlled by institutions outside the continent.” Similarly, Mellon Foundation representatives emphasize that their support for MOWAA aims to empower African-led institutions in determining the future of their cultural assets.
As MOWAA embarks on this next phase of its journey, the Mellon Foundation’s $3 million grant will help the museum’s work reverberate beyond its own walls, influencing the ways in which African art is conserved, studied, and exhibited for generations to come.
For more information, Visit MOWAA.com
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