BENIN 097


l’Esclavage within the former Portuguese fort, an 18th-century historical monument at the heart of the Ouidah Museum of History; and lastly the Musée International du Vodun, a flagship museum in the city of Porto-Novo intended to rehabilitate the image of a much- maligned and globally poorly understood indigenous religion, Voodoo. Tis will make culture second only to agriculture in its contribution to the country’s economy. Tat also means considerable investment in arts education, with a new Africa Design School campus located in Ouidah with links to L’École de Design Nantes Atlantique, plus a significant boost for the École du Patrimoine Africain, which trains heritage professionals, work that has gained greater relevance since Benin and other African countries have begun to recover


Benin’s participation in the Venice Biennale in 2024 marked a crucial step in an ambitious government programme that’s been underway since 2016


looted treasures from European museums. Such publicly funded, government-led major museum projects that Benin is undertaking have little precedent in Africa. Taken all together it means that Benin will be one of the very few countries in Africa that put arts and culture at the heart of policy. Te new National Assembly has been under construction since March 2021 and is due for completion this year. It has been designed by Francis Kéré, an internationally renowned Burkinabè architect, one of the profession’s biggest stars of recent years, a singular beacon in architecture. A former winner of the Aga Khan Award, he has since won the Pritzker Prize in 2022, the Praemium Imperiale in 2023, and in 2024 the 30th Crystal Award of the World Economic Forum Annual


Left and below The building has been designed by Kéré Architecture


COUNTRY PROFILE BENIN


Capital Porto-Novo Area 114,763km2 Population 13.7 million


Languages: French, also Fon, Yom, Yoruba, Gun, Baatonum, Biali, Dendi, Fulfulde


Life expectancy 60 years (men) 63 years (women)


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