Local Artisans Brighten Up the Future of Benin City Through MOWAA

Yinka Olatunbosun

When people think of museums, they often imagine climate-controlled galleries or quiet halls lined with art. What they rarely picture are the hands that build them – the carpenters, welders, brick workers, metal fabricators, clay specialists, rammed-earth builders, and designers whose work creates the physical world that visitors eventually encounter.

In Benin City, hundreds of these artisans have been central to the making of the MOWAA campus – long before any artist, curator or scholar steps inside.

One of MOWAA’s core commitments has been to ensure that the Museum is built with local skills, local materials and locally-sourced labour. From the rammed-earth walls to custom metalwork, handcrafted tiles, and bespoke wood joinery, MOWAA’s construction is a celebration of Edo craftsmanship.

More than 1,000 artisans have worked on the campus to date, many of whom were trained on-site in areas like rammed earth construction; high-precision carpentry; museum-grade metal fabrication; conservation-standard storage building; stone finishing; and eco-responsible landscaping.

These are not temporary jobs – they are skills that last a lifetime.

Benin’s heritage is rich with artisanal traditions – from the famed bronze casters of Igun Street to the woodcarvers and guilds whose work shaped centuries of cultural expression.

MOWAA’s building process intentionally integrates this lineage. The rammed-earth technique used in the Institute echoes traditional West African building approaches, while meeting global standards of durability and environmental responsibility. It is a powerful symbol: Benin’s past literally supports Benin’s future.

In a city where unemployment remains high, the MOWAA project has created meaningful economic opportunities: steady work for artisans over multiple years; apprenticeships for young craftsmen; contracts for local workshops and suppliers; and new expertise that artisans can now export to other projects.

These skills are already being utilised beyond the Museum, with several contractors reporting that MOWAA-trained artisans have been recruited for architectural projects in Edo and neighbouring states.

While public programming has paused temporarily, the economic ecosystem around the campus has continued to grow – construction, landscaping, facilities operations, and campus support personnel remain active.