Bët-bi Museum in Senegal to House Restituted African Art

The Bët-bi museum and cultural center, designed by architect Mariam Issoufou Kamara of Atelier Masōmī, will be built in Kaolack, Senegal, near the recently UNESCO-listed megaliths. The 1,000-square-meter institution, whose name means 'eye' in Wolof, will showcase ancient Senegambian culture alongside contemporary African and global art. It will include a library and educational spaces. Crucially, Bët-bi aims to serve as a temporary repository for restituted African artworks looted during colonialism, facilitating repatriation by bridging Western collections and African nations. The project is promoted by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and Le Korsa, whose executive director Nicholas Fox Weber emphasized the museum's role in making art accessible to all. Kamara, a protégé of David Adjaye and winner of the 2017 Gold Lafarge Holcim Award for Africa and the Middle East, will employ low-impact construction techniques using local materials and traditional methods, engaging local artisans. The museum is conceived as a new perspective on African art past and present, also incorporating Mesoamerican and Native American art.