"Uncertainty surrounds the fate of the highly anticipated Museum of West African Arts (MOWAA) in Benin City, Nigeria. The museum's inception was initially tied to the restitution of the Benin Bronzes; when plans for the new state-of-the-art institution were first revealed in 2020, the museum was promoted as the "most comprehensive display [of Benin Bronzes] in the world." But due to questions of ownership, it has been clear for years that the bronzes would not land in the new museum."
"The Benin Bronzes refers to several thousands of objects created by the Edo people from the 15th to the 19th century. They decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Edo State, Nigeria, until it was ransacked by British solders in an infamous 1897 raid. The treasures ended up in the collections of various Western museums including the British Museum, Berlin's Humboldt Forum and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art."
The Museum of West African Arts (MOWAA) in Benin City faces uncertainty because ownership questions tied to the Benin Bronzes have disrupted its inauguration. The museum was originally promoted as the most comprehensive display of Benin Bronzes but the objects will not be housed there. MOWAA will focus on contemporary African art and operate as a research and conservation center to train Nigerian archaeologists and art conservators. The Benin Bronzes are thousands of Edo-made objects from the 15th–19th centuries taken during an 1897 British raid and dispersed to Western museums. Several European institutions agreed to return pieces in 2022; a 2023 law named the Oba of Benin their owner and custodian.
Read at www.dw.com
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