Nigeria seeks to restore pride in its artefacts, ancient and modern

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.