2001
The renovation of the building to Petit Musée was started with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ development cooperation fund. Petit Musée had once served as a ward for infectious diseases at Dahomey Hospital. Soile Rinno curated the first exhibition in Villa Karo’s Petit Musée and it opened in October 2001.
2019
The museum's exhibition will be renewed in the spring. Matti-Juhani Karila stored his private collection in Villa Karo, where "about a hundred Mami Watas" returned to their birthplaces on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea. The exhibition is curated by Georgette Singbe.