The Institute

The engine room of knowledge generation and creative collaborations.

The Institute, an impressive one-story building with approximately 4,000 square metres of interior space, will provide state-of-the-art facilities for archaeological research, conservation, and public programming.

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 Collection Facility

The Collection facility within the Institute will provide expansive, state-of-the-art storage facilities with public display and research space. These facilities will enable collaboration with institutions and collectors across the continent in support of their restitution, preservation and research initiatives.

The Digital Lab, within the Collection facility, will be 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 & Outreach

MOWAA programmes connect to a global audience of West Africans and Africa-focused 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 Institute 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 Institute’s Materials Research and Centre for Field Archaeology.