096 BENIN
BENIN – A FAR-OFF COUNTRY of which we know little. T at is about to change. With a new National Assembly under construction designed by a Pritzker-winning architect, four new major museums, and four sensational artists on show at the Venice Biennale, where for the fi rst time Benin had a pavilion, the country’s vibrant artistic scene, its cultural heritage and design talent will become far better known to everyone. Formerly part of French West Africa, when
it was known as Dahomey, Benin is a wedge of land located between Togo, Nigeria, Niger, and Burkina Faso. T e country’s two main cities are both on the coastal strip: the capital, Porto-Novo, and the seat of government in Cotonou, originally developed as a port for the transatlantic slave trade by the Portuguese. T e country gained its independence in 1960.
Western European overseas expansion
was exploitative, extractive and racist. Benin suff ered. T e slow acknowledgment by Europe of the realities of those empires and its deep and continuing impact on culture and institutions has hardly begun. Since Benin gained independence there have been coups and regime changes, and changes of constitution and governmental system: tribal, Marxist, nationalist, socialist, co-operative, liberal. At times, the unacceptable was replaced by the unpalatable. In the past decade, things have calmed down. Benin’s participation in the Venice
Biennale in 2024 marked a crucial step in an ambitious government programme that has been underway since 2016. T e aim is nothing less than the structural transformation
of the economy by making unprecedented investments in support of culture, the arts, and creative industries, focusing primarily on fi ve areas: cinema, the performing arts (dance, music, theatre and performance), the visual arts, heritage and publishing, intending to establish Benin as a pivotal centre for the creation and dissemination of art on a regional, continental and international level. Two museums are being rehabilitated, while four are currently in architectural planning: the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Cotonou, the fl agship of the new cultural quartier; the Musée des Rois et des Amazones du Danxomè, which will accommodate 26 royal treasures that France returned in 2022, a century after they were looted by colonial forces; the Maison de la Mémoire et de
Right and below The new National Assembly has been under construction since March 2021 and is due for completion this year
ALL IMAGES: KÉRÉ ARCHITECTURE
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