The Power Plant

Emeka Ogboh

Emeka-Ogboh_photo-by-Michael-Danner.jpeg

Courtesy Emeka Ogboh, photo by Michael Danner

Emeka Ogboh (born 1977) is a Nigerian sound and installation artist best known for his soundscapes of life in Lagos. Trained as an artist, he began working with sounds that characterize cities following an Egyptian multimedia art program. He presents unmodified field recordings from Lagos city life—for instance, its danfo share taxi system—in gallery installations with headphones and speakers. His non-audio work uses iconography from Lagos city life. He participated in the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program and 2015 Venice Biennale, and received the 2016 Bremen Böttcherstraße Art Award. His work has exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, American National Museum of African Art, Menil Collection, Casino Luxembourg, and Kiasma. Critics noted his soundscapes' chaos and complexity, and his focus on recontextualizing rather than transforming the city's sounds.