ARCHITECT ATLAS
Loading atlas
Museum of West African Art (MOWAA)

Museum of West African Art (MOWAA)

David Adjaye

Photo: KathleenFowlds · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
Client / Owner
—
Year
Completed 2025
Access
Private
Typology
Cultural
Style
—

The Museum of West African Art, or MOWAA, in Benin City, Edo State, was designed by David Adjaye, with renderings revealed in November 2020. The article gives no start date, completion date, style or materials. It was under construction by June 2025, and the campus covers 15 acres. Construction cost is estimated at US$25 million, and ownership and governance are described as disputed.

The museum focuses on contemporary West African art. More than 300 items are on loan from European museums. The Benin Bronzes were originally meant for display but are not shown, and an installation by Yinka Shonibare uses clay replicas.

The opening was planned for November 11, 2025. On November 9, 2025, protests cut short the preview events, and followers of Oba Ewuare II attacked a private ceremony. The Edo governor then revoked the land's Certificate of Occupancy. The museum remains closed until further notice.

Comments

  • Loading comments…
Be kind. Anyone can flag a comment for review.

Sign in

or

Your profile

3 to 24 letters, numbers, underscores or periods. It’s shown with your comments.

Contact us

Questions, corrections or ideas? Your message goes straight to the Architect Atlas owner.

Save to list

    Edit information

    We look the building up on Wikipedia for you. Architect Atlas lists buildings that have their own Wikipedia article: our test for notoriety and our source of truth.

        Typology
        Style (one to three)
        Photo (shown in a 4:3 frame)

        Drag and zoom to frame the building well. New photos are checked before they appear.

        Every change is checked before it goes live: facts against Wikipedia, photos by eye.