British Museum



1587500-723903365500-720090-127000-504190 Press releaseThe Legacy Restoration Trust, Nigeria, the British Museum and Adjaye Associates announce details of major archaeology project on the site of a new museum in Benin City. Under embargo until 9am (WAT), 8am (GMT) Friday 13th November 2020As part of the 'Rediscovering the History of Benin' initiative announced today in Benin City, Nigeria, The Legacy Restoration Trust (LRT), the British Museum and Adjaye Associates are pleased to announce a major new archaeology project, linked to the construction of the newly named Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA). This innovative collaboration will investigate the archaeology of the Kingdom of Benin, including archaeological remains buried below the proposed site of the new museum. This will be the most extensive archaeological excavation ever undertaken in Benin City. The LRT in partnership with the British Museum has secured the equivalent of $4 million of funding for The EMOWAA Archaeology Project.The archaeology project commences in 2021 and involves a wide range of partners including local communities, the Benin Royal Court, the Government of Edo State, and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). The project constitutes essential early phase work for the building of EMOWAA which is being developed to house West African art and artefacts and which will comprise the 'Royal Collection', the most comprehensive display in the world of Benin Bronzes. The museum will also include major galleries dedicated to contemporary arts, responding to and engaging with current issues and supporting the contemporary arts community in Benin. EMOWAA is focused on reuniting Benin art works currently within international collections, as well as investigating and presenting the wider histories that these represent. In addition to directly supporting the building of the new museum, this archaeology project will be actively engaging with wider debates concerning Benin cultural heritage and the representation of Benin’s history. The open dialogue that this project fosters will create new opportunities to address the significant history of the Kingdom of Benin but also the painful history of the invasion and destruction of Benin City by British forces in 1897 – and to engage in new forms of cultural exchange and understanding. This project will look at new ways of engaging local communities, children and young people through workshops, publications, talks and digital content, reconnecting local people with their history and highlighting the significance of the history of the Kingdom of Benin.Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) Adjaye Associates, led by Sir David Adjaye, have been appointed to undertake the initial concept and urban planning work on the new museum, and to assist in the assembly of a team of professionals in Nigeria.The architectural vision is to use archaeology as a means of connecting the new museum into the surrounding landscape, by revitalizing and incorporating the surviving remains of the walls, moats and gates of the historic city, seen throughout the modern city today. The museum project also recognizes the huge importance of the archaeological remains still preserved below the ground. The digging of the museum’s foundations will require careful excavations to prepare the site for the new museum building. The excavation of the site may reveal evidence of historic buildings which may be retained in their original position to become part of the visitor experience of the new museum. EMOWAA Preliminary Design ConceptAdjacent to the Oba's Palace, the new EMOWAA draws inspiration from its historical architectural typologies and establishes its own courtyard in the form of a public garden, exhibiting a variety of indigenous flora and a canopy that offers shade - a welcoming green environment suitable for gatherings, ceremonies and events. The galleries float above the gardens and are articulated by a series of elevated volumes - an inversion of the courtyard typology – within each of which sit pavilions which take their form from fragments of reconstructed historic compounds. These fragments allow the objects themselves to be arranged in their pre-colonial context and offer visitors the opportunity to better understand the true significance of these artefacts within the traditions, political economy and rituals enshrined within the culture of Benin City. A new dedicated space, EMOWAA will contain the rich, regal and sacred objects of Benin’s past, in a way that allows visitors not just the possibility of “looking in” but “looking out” into the visual landscape of imagining the once historic borders of a restored ancient kingdom.?Rediscovering Benin's Historic PastThe EMOWAA and the archaeology project are part of a wider scheme to revitalize the cultural core of Benin City and to aid in the economic revitalisation of the city. Driven by the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, the vision for this project is to realize a world-class museum, art gallery and research centre which collectively will be known as the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA). Speaking in Benin City today Governor Godwin Obaseki said, “Benin City is an ancient city with an incredible richness of artefacts and ruins that could and should form the bedrock of a centre for research, education in archaeology, art, curation and preservation. The construction of a world-class museum in the historic part of Benin City requires archaeological work to ensure historic remains buried below the ground at the museum construction site are preserved and recorded, and artefacts can be catalogued and preserved for display and to become part of the future collections of the new museum. I believe that this partnership archaeological work will begin to establish world-class archaeological research in Edo State and begin the journey towards the new museum and research centre". The Edo Museum of West African Art and the EMOWAA Archaeology Project are developed with the approval of the Benin Royal Palace, with the Palace represented at the Summit by Crown Prince, HRH Oko Ezelekhae Ewuare II and HRH Princess?Ikuoyemwen Ewuare Aimiuwu.??Announcing the details of the EMOWAA David Adjaye, said, "I am humbled and deeply inspired to design the new EMOWAA, a project that will establish a new museum paradigm for Africa. From an initial glance at the preliminary design concept, one might believe this is a traditional museum but, really, what we are proposing is an undoing of the objectification that has happened in the West through full reconstruction.?Applying our research into Benin’s extraordinary ruins, the city’s orthogonal walls and its courtyard networks, the museum design reconstructs the inhabitation of these forms as pavilions that enable the recontextualization of artefacts. Decoupling from the Western museum model, the EMOWAA will perform as a reteaching tool - a place for recalling lost collective memories of the past to instil an understanding of the magnitude and importance of these civilizations and cultures".The EMOWAA Archaeology ProjectThe archaeology project commences in 2021 and will continue for a period of five years to enable the timely construction of the museum. Initial work will involve extensive consultations with and input from local stakeholders – residents, historians, artists, and members of craft guilds – in a series of workshops, to help establish local priorities and interests. Initial archaeological work includes surveys of the museum site and the wider surroundings (LIDAR and geophysical surveys), to more fully understand the sub-surface remains and to help target excavations. The focus of excavations and fieldwork will be at the new museum site and in the immediate surroundings. Excavated objects will become part of the EMOWAA museum collections and displays, and all objects will remain in Nigeria. The project will be led by a joint Nigerian and British team and will involve the creation of a number of new roles. Archaeological heritage and research collaborations will be developed with a range of Nigerian and international partnerships, including a significant partnership with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). Educational partnerships with universities, technical institutes as well as schools and young learners, will further generate local involvement in the project and will seek to develop archaeological expertise through both practical experience and theoretical training. The development of the project will run concurrently with the Digital Benin project, which will be collating all information and documentation on Benin material across the world on a single online platform.Previous archaeological investigations in Benin City have focused largely on the monumental defensive wall structures which once surrounded the city and are today still partially visible. The limited test excavations, which took place in the centre of Benin City in the 1950s and 1960s, however, revealed some very important finds. These included preserved buildings and traces of elaborate pavements made of pottery fragments. Excavated objects comprised various metal-work items, such as a brass snake’s head and part of a plaque depicting a mudfish, as well as a variety of other objects telling the life of the pre-colonial kingdom, from decorated pottery vessels to traded glass beads. Today, these finds are little-known and the buildings and pavements lay buried below the modern city. Phillip Ihenacho, Director of LRT said, "The Legacy Restoration Trust is pleased to be part of the first part of the important journey towards establishing the Edo Museum of West African Art, working in collaboration with Adjaye Associates and the British Museum. LRT intends to support the archaeological work and ensure that the project leads to local skills enhancement and opportunities to rediscover the great history of Benin".Prof Abba Isa Tijani, Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria said, "NCMM is very excited about this archaeological work in historic Benin, which we hope and believe will lead to a greater understanding of the ancient kingdom of Benin. We are also pleased with our collaboration with the Legacy Restoration Trust and the British Museum which we hope will lead to many other projects in cultural heritage across Nigeria". Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum said, "The British Museum's main mission is to work in partnership with colleagues from around the world to develop our shared understanding of cultural heritage. We are honoured to be working with colleagues from Edo State, the Benin Royal Palace, the Legacy Restoration Trust, ?the National Commission for Museums and Monuments of Nigeria, and Adjaye Associates on this exciting project investigating the history of the Kingdom of Benin.?The archaeology project also provides the groundwork for the EMOWAA which will surely become one of the most significant museum initiatives in the coming decades."____________________________________________________________________Additional information:The Kingdom of Benin was one of the most important and powerful pre-colonial states of West Africa. It is known today for its castings in brass and bronze - the Benin Bronzes - as well as objects in other materials, including ivory, coral and wood. The 'Bronzes' include several hundred plaques which depict narrative moments from the life of the kingdom. These plaques once decorated the pillars of buildings in the Benin royal palace and provide an important historical record of the Kingdom of Benin. The kingdom became a major trading partner with Europeans following the arrival of Portuguese explorers on the West African coast in the 15th century. At this time Benin was already an important political formation and major trading state. It was situated within a wider West African network which included trade routes across the Sahara supplying gold, ivory and other products to the North African Islamic world and beyond. Benin’s place within history is equally known for its sudden and brutal conquest by British forces in the late 19th century. The capture of Benin City in 1897 brought widespread destruction of the palace and its compounds. British forces ransacked the city’s shrines, royal chambers and storerooms and thousands of objects of ceremonial and ritual value were looted. Many of these objects are now in the collections of museums across the UK, Europe and the USA. The British Museum currently cares for more than 900 objects from Benin, with over 100 of these objects on permanent public display. Information about the entire collection is accessible via the Museum’s Collection Online.Today, Benin and its bronzes are the focus of international debates on cultural heritage and restitution. It is against this background that the Benin Dialogue Group developed. The group, which includes the British Museum, is a consortium of European, Nigerian and UK museums, members of the Benin Royal Court, and representatives of Edo State government, working together to facilitate the construction of the museum in Benin City and to enable a permanent display of Benin works of art, including significant collections of works currently in UK and European museums, as well as objects in Nigeria. This project responds to discussions about new ways to understand, present and learn about Benin’s past, in the context of colonial occupation, as well as the history of the Kingdom of Benin more broadly. These discussions have involved conversations between members of the Royal Palace, contemporary artists, community representatives and academics, and the Benin Dialogue Group. British Museum staff visited Benin City, in both 2018 and 2019, when the British Museum’s Director was granted an audience with His Royal Majesty Oba Ewuare II. It is against this background that discussions developed between the Legacy Restoration Trust and the British Museum, and other partners, to develop an archaeology project that could directly support the new museum project and these wider initiatives.Notes to Editors:The Legacy Restoration Trust (LRTis an independent not-for-profit entity incorporated in Nigeria. LRT was established to mobilise resources and oversee a series of cultural heritage restoration, archaeological and education projects with an initial focus on the establishment of a landmark museum in Benin City. The Trust aims to provide an institutional framework for the development and management of the Edo Museum of West African Art that will celebrate the rich history of West African culture and the Benin Kingdom in particular.?LRT is funded by private Nigerian individuals and companies and Edo State. The Benin Dialogue Group is a multi-lateral collaborative working group that brings together representatives of the Edo State Government, the Royal Court of Benin, and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria with museum directors and delegates from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom with. A central objective of the Benin Dialogue Group is to work together to establish a museum in Benin City that will facilitate a permanent display reuniting Benin works of art dispersed in collections around the world: 'Digital Benin' project () will bring together objects, photographs, oral histories, and other documentation associated with the Kingdom of Benin from collections worldwide on a single digital platform to provide a long-requested overview of the royal artworks looted in the 19th century.Adjaye Associates. Adjaye Associates was established in June 2000 by Founder and Principal, Sir David Adjaye OBE. Receiving ever-increasing worldwide attention, the firm has offices in Accra, London and New York and completed work in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The studio’s burgeoning global portfolio includes works at multiple scales, from large scale architectural projects; master planning and landscaping, to interiors; exhibitions; furniture and product design.? Adjaye’s largest commission to date, the?Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, opened in 2016 on the National Mall in Washington D.C.?Follow the British Museum via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram@britishmuseumFollow the British Museum blog at blog. Follow EMOWAA via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:emowaaEmowaa-Further informationFor Legacy Restoration Trust please contact: info@For the British Museum please contact: Hannah Boulton on 07748 162657 / hboulton@For Adjaye Associates please contact:Marissa Glauberman - press@ ................
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