Says Obaseki not owner of facility
Following last week's protest by a cultural group, Aiguobasinmwin Movement, in Benin -City,demanding a halt to the ongoing construction of the Museum of West African Art ,MOWAA, Executive Director of MOWAA Trust, Phillip Ihenacho, clarifies many misconceptions about the project.
What informed the establishment of MOWAA Trust?
MOWAA Trust was established in 2020 to build and run museum infrastructure in Benin City. This came about because of three main reasons:
The desire of Edo State to become a centre for culture, tourism and the creative economy. Edo State governor at the time asked me to assist in raising funding for this, and I made it clear that it could be done most effectively if it was an independent, charitable trust that was not subject to political interference/changes. The Trust would be responsible for the governance of the museum infrastructure once built. I believed strongly that MOWAA as an independent, newly established transparent trust that established and ran museum infrastructure would be more effective at mobilising capital from international as well as domestic sources.
The discussions around the restitution of West African artifacts including the Benin Bronzes and the need to demonstrate to the West that suitable museum infrastructure was being developed or existed in West Africa took place. The Benin Dialogue Group was established specifically to deal with restitution discussions and it was clear that one of the big stumbling blocks was the perception that there was a deficit of museum infrastructure. We hoped that MOWAA would be one of several new museum projects in West Africa that would prove doubters wrong.
I have the desire to spend time and my resources on a project to support the creative and heritage sector in Nigeria. I believe that Nigeria has a strong competitive advantage in culture/creativity but very little infrastructure or platforms to support heritage professionals, artist and others in the creative sector. I believe that properly resourced non-profit institutions that are able to provide research, education and career development opportunities would fill an important gap and act as a catalyst for West African creativity. I have devoted the last few years to this cause because I believe very strongly in this.
Can you explain your relationship with former governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki. Does he have interest in MOWAA?
Unfortunately, MOWAA has been portrayed in some quarters as a personal project owned by the former governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki. The former governor doesn't own it, and has never played any ownership nor governance role.
MOWAA is a not-for-profit and as such does not have shares nor pay dividends or any money to its members/directors. Directors are expected to serve with no compensation as a service and to donate to the trust. It is about giving not receiving.
I can confirm categorically that there is no benefit whatsoever that has accrued nor would ever accrue to Godwin Obaseki from MOWAA.
What is MOWAA's relationship with Edo State and does the state fund it ?
Edo State provided some financial support for the project through the Trust, which was less than 20 percent of the funds MOWAA has raised. And the majority of funding raised by MOWAA has been from international foundations, governments, corporates and individual donors. We have been fortunate to secure funding from such prestigious organisations as the Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the British Museum, the German Government, the German Archaelogical Institute, A.G. Leventis Foundation and Open Society Foundation. We have secured funding from Nigerian corporates and individuals as well who believe in what we are trying to do.
A seat on the board of directors of the trust was reserved for Edo State Government, but the majority of the board are independent directors with the highest level of governance standards.
Have you been involved in diverting funds intended for the Benin Royal Museum to MOWAA?
No, we have always been completely transparent and explicit to all donors about what we are and what we are not. All our funds were raised long after it was clear to everyone that the Palace remained committed to establishing its own museum and that we were in no way representing the Palace nor the Benin Royal Museum
We are actually very keen to see the completion of the Benin Royal Museum and would like to support it in whatever capacity we can or are allowed to. We believe that for Benin to become a true West African cultural capital, it needs multiple museums and cultural centres that will complement each other.
Why does there appear to be so much controversy between the Royal Palace and MOWAA?
I obviously cannot speak on the position of the Palace, and don't want to be drawn into speculation. However, it seems to me that there are reasons there might be scepticism about MOWAA in Palace quarters.
We have unfortunately been perceived by many as personal project of the former governors and to the extent that there is distrust or concerns about the former governor, there might be distrust or concerns about us. I have tried to address this misperception earlier.
When we were initially established, the international press portrayed us always as "the museum where the Benin Bronzes are going". Despite the fact that from the beginning, we tried to be very clear that we have no claim whatsoever to Benin Bronzes nor any artefacts. Despite the fact that we are a newly-established trust to build and manage museum infrastructure for West African Art generally, and obviously cannot claim ownership of objects that were stolen many years ago. Despite that fact that we have stated repeatedly that, like all museums, we can store or display objects only with the explicit permissions of those who own the objects. Despite the fact that we have changed our name from the Edo Museum of West African Art to the Museum of West African Art to emphasise that are scope is not just about Edo art, and this year we organised the Nigeria Pavilion at the Venice Arts Biennale which is about contemporary art. The Western press tries to pigeon-hole us into the Benin Bronze museum which is simply not the case.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Funds
There is a perception that money for the Benin Royal Museum was diverted by us. Again, despite all of this,
We have taken a number of steps to make this change our name to the Museum of West African Art to make our scope clearer.
While the scope of MOWAA was always West African and always included modern and contemporary art, we decided to emphasize this focus with the organisation and execution of the Nigeria Pavilion in Venice, which is a contemporary art biennale.
