By Akintayo Abodunrin
The Trust’s mission to promote the study, creation and display of art and heritage is progressing well.
ART, heritage and non-profit cultural organisation, the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) Trust, is making impressive development strides with its pavilion and other missions, Executive Chair Philip Ihenacho has disclosed.
EMOWAA was established in 2019 and is committed to the long-term support of the creative sector and a transparent, professional governance structure consistent with international standards.
Eminent Nigerians, including Ihenacho, Prince Ezelekhae Ewuare, Babatunde Adebiyi, Victor Ehikhamenor, Prince Bamidele Obaitan, Erc Idiahi, Dr Myma Belo-Osagie and Dr Andreas Grgen are the trustees overseeing the body currently building its museum in Benin City, Edo State.
Renowned architect David Adjaye, OBE, designed the complex with Nigeria architects MOE+. It will house materials, a digital lab, an archaeology centre, and a research and archives facility. The complex will also collect, preserve, and display works from the artistic heritage of West Africa. It will also provide infrastructure, research, education, and capacity-building opportunities for scholars and creative professionals across West Africa.
Updating on the body’s plans and programmes at a recent media interaction in Lagos, Ihenacho reiterated that EMOWAA’s initial focus would be creating an ecosystem for research education and career opportunities for young creatives and professionals in cultural heritage management.
He explained that the pavilion “will also be a space to help catalyse the art and culture ecosystem by providing infrastructure for capacity building, training, digitisation of works and growing a pipeline of future artists and archaeologists. In short, it is about building platforms for studying and creating art.”
He added that the first building under construction “will provide modern research facilities for artists and academics from across West Africa, archaeological and material lab, as well as a digital equipment and facilities to support the shortage and study of West Africa’s unique cultural knowledge base and our imagined futures into 2D/3D reality for global access and engagement.”
Ihenacho further noted that at the heart of EMOWAA’s initiatives is “a commitment to redefining how research, archives and collections are engaged with, challenging notions of expertise and exclusivity. An example of one of these programmes launched recently is the open learning initiative developed in partnership with the Open Society Foundation in Africa. The initiative has engaged over 500 students in Benin City, Edo state discussing the rich cultural history of West Africa and potential career opportunities within the heritage management and arts.”
Apart from building the pavilion, the Executive Chair said the EMOWAA Trust would serve as a facilitator and platform supporting and maintaining part of a planned cultural district in the heart of Benin City. The creative district will collaborate with and boost the success of all existing and planned cultural institutions in Benin City, including the Royal Benin Museum and the existing NCMM museum, by facilitating a thriving creative hub and tourism destination in Edo state.
By collaborating with other museums, educational and cultural institutions and foundations worldwide, EMOWAA intends to foster long-term partnerships that promote a supportive platform for the creative sector and enhance the vibrant contemporary art scene in West Africa.
“It is vital that our work support young creatives, hence our focus also on contemporary and modern art and the recent appointments in this area”, noted Ihenacho.
To ensure the effective delivery of its mandate, EMOWAA recently appointed US-based art historian Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu as senior advisor and UK-based Aindrea Emelife as curator of modern and contemporary art.
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