The Museum of West African Art (Mowaa), a constellation of buildings and outdoor performance spaces spread out across a 6-hectare (15-acre) campus, will hold its inaugural exhibition in May 2025. 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”. Other key parts of Mowaa, including a rainforest gallery and an art guesthouse, will be commissioned within the next year or two, pending further funding. The rainforest gallery, spanning 1,400 sq m, will be an exhibition building for larger displays of contemporary art in a replanted rainforest. “The Mowaa Institute is a first-of-its-kind space dedicated to world-class, cutting-edge science research to develop new narratives and to conserve African art and collections,” Chirikure says.

Source: The Guardian November 23, 2024 10:23 UTC