The Pavilion
Scheduled for completion in 2024, the Pavilion will host a centre of field archaeology and materials research, with a substantial collections facility and well-equipped labs run by a local team.
Photo Credit:
Adjaye Architects. EMOWAA Museum, 2021.
The engine room of knowledge generation and creative collaborations, The Pavilion will provide state-of-the-art facilities for archaeological research, conservation, and public programming.
Initial designs by Sir David Adjaye envision a one-story building with approximately 38,000 square feet of interior space. It will feature an exhibition gallery with views into the collection study area, a 180-seater auditorium, conference rooms, conservation laboratories, and a library. The landscaped grounds outside will include a sunken amphitheatre for informal public gatherings and curated outdoor programs.
PAVILION PROGRAMMES
State of the art facilities at Africa's doorstep
Collection Facility
The Digital Lab is a space where MOWAA’s growing creative and research community unlock the possibilities of digital technologies to advance the heritage economy, education, and creative industries. This facility will make cultural content of Nigerian and African origin easy to access, use and reuse through the creation of multimedia digital catalogues.
Through digital archiving and interactive applications and multimedia displays, MOWAA’s curators will bring West Africa’s unique cultural knowledge base and our imagined futures into 2D/3d reality for global engagement.
Learning and Outreach
MOWAA programmes will connect to a global audience of Nigerians and other black and African communities through dialogue and education.
Working closely with local and international partners, we are developing an exciting range of learning materials and experience-based programmes to expand public learning. Our approach focuses on redefining how archives and collections are engaged with, ultimately challenging notions of expertise and exclusivity.
Our learning programmes are designed to deepen connections to art and heritage within local communities and institutions and to inspire a new generation of young professionals and scholars in these fields. We will deliver this through workshops and seminars, with seasonal internships and volunteer opportunities
Archaeological and Material Science Lab
The Pavilion will provide access to research using advanced technologies, such as carbon dating and isotope analysis to educational and research institutions as well as local industries. Its range of technologies enable digital mapping and interpretation of cultural artefacts, places, buildings, and monuments, providing new evidence to deepen knowledge of Africa’s civilizations and their material heritage.
Programmes will be carefully designed to foster wider learning and public engagement through online exhibitions, e-commerce, e-learning and other interactive applications. Homegrown capacity to run these projects sustainably will be cultivated under the Pavilion’s Materials Research and Centre for Field Archaeology.
Collections Facility
The MOWAA Pavilion will provide expansive, state-of-the-art storage facilities with public display and research space. These will be at the disposal of institutions across the continent in support of their restitution and research initiatives.
Commemorative head of an Oba. Benin City
1550-1650. The British Museum.