MOWAA Institute hosts seminar on West African archaeology | The Guardian Nigeria News

As part of efforts to protect invaluable cultural heritage sites across the region, the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) hosted leading West African archaeologists and heritage experts for an inaugural seminar tagged “Futures of Archaeology: Archaeology and Heritage Management in West Africa Today – Challenges and Opportunities”, in Benin City, capital of Edo State.

The two-day event, which held recently, featured respected voices in the field such as Dr. Prof. Akin Ogundiran (Northwestern University), Prof. Jonathan O. Aleru (University of Ibadan), Prof. Gerard Chouin from William and Mary University; and Dr. Babatunde Babalola, a research fellow at the British Museum and the Cyprus Institute.

The seminar served as a forum for discussion with other Nigerian and West African institutions concerned with heritage research and management.

The seminar also featured among others design workshops, with leading practitioners on MOWAA’s new Field School, which is proposed to provide hands-on training to students from West Africa and further afield.

Speaking at the event, MOWAA’s Head of Archaeology, Charles Le Quesne said, “In West Africa – as in many other parts of the world – urban development and population growth are accelerating threats to archaeology and traditional ways of life. The loss involved in this destruction of material remains of the past is made far more serious by the fact that so many ancient historic places, buildings and landscapes have not been explored, documented, or understood. Hence the need to train a new generation of heritage professionals with the skills and experience to document, interpret and share their discoveries before the region’s heritage disappears entirely.”

Also remarking, Head of the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana, Dr. Samuel N. Nkumbaan, said: “MOWAA comes with the opportunities in dealing with some of the many technical and resource challenges that plague archaeological and heritage research in Ghana, and we are thrilled to note the possibilities on offer.”

President, International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Nigeria, Dr. Oluwatoyin Sogbesan also noted: “Heritage management practitioners are the lifeline to a country’s unique identity and diversity of its communities. Accreditation could help bring awareness and standardisation to the profession. By extension, heritage practitioners are charged with a privileged task of identifying, documenting and preserving heritage with host communities for generations to come.”

The MOWAA Institute, currently under construction in Benin City, will host the Field School once it is officially launched alongside other programmes within its centre for research, archives, archaeological fieldwork and archaeological science. It will contain state of the art science laboratories using equipment purchased with a generous grant from the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

This will enable documentation and scientific analysis of material recovered from excavations across the continent, such as earthenware pottery, glass and metal, starting with those unearthed in recent investigations in Benin City.

Director of MOWAA’s Institute, Ore Disu, said: “With proper investment and youth training, Nigeria can unlock benefits in research, community building and education, with wider implications for tourism. It is a pivotal time to be fostering these conversations as the heritage sector in Nigeria, and especially Benin, has been garnering international attention.  Most recently, world-renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and World Monuments Fund visited the city to facilitate exhibitions within the institution that would share Nigeria’s culture and history globally. With breakthroughs in both infrastructure and professional development, MOWAA is strategically positioned to champion preservation and unlock heritage’s potential in Nigeria and beyond.”

Prof. Shadreck Chirikure at Oxford University, who is overseeing the development of the laboratories said: “African scholarship is essential to narrate our past on our own terms. We aim to attract funding so more students can access MOWAA’s upcoming Field School and research opportunities.”

The Oxford professor further said: “Conservation requires sustainable resourcing. Proactive investment in preservation has allowed countries like Morocco, Kenya and more recently Ghana to build thriving tourism sectors that create jobs, attract foreign direct investment, and generate revenue from visitors eager to experience their history and culture.”