Nigeria seeks to restore pride in its artefacts, ancient and modern
A new museum in Benin City will showcase “a cauldron of creativity”
A clutch of artists, curators and enthusiasts is welcomed by drummers, dancers and an unforgiving bout of sunshine amid cranes and scaffolding. The burgeoning, clay-coloured edifice with its earthen finish designed by David Adjaye, a knighted Ghanaian-Brit, is to house the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), a new hub for arts and culture in Nigeria’s historic Benin City. A jamboree of talks and workshops is more a proof-of-concept than a full-blown opening. Yet MOWAA already stands shoulders above most other Nigerian museums, where many valuable artefacts are shut away in old warehouses.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Restoring pride”
Middle East & Africa
November 30th 2024
From the November 30th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Israel’s army adopts a high-stakes new strategy: more terrain
It remains present inside Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank
The sea is swallowing an African island
In Sierra Leone, adjusting to a warmer climate is getting harder
In a dictator’s palace, Syrians debate a new constitution
Ahmed al-Sharaa will soon have to reveal how sincere he is about the new, inclusive Syria
Could political upheaval hit Jordan next?
Resurgent Islamists and chaos in the West Bank may threaten Jordan’s king
Israel and Hamas have something in common
They both want to avoid a ceasefire collapse, for a few more weeks
How to make cash in Africa’s coup belt
Mining multinationals are learning to do business with juntas