EMEKA OGBOH
b. 1977, NigeriaEmeka Ogboh (born Enugu, Nigeria, 1977) is a Berlin-based Nigerian artist whose immersive sound, installation, and gastronomic works translate the sensory experience of cities—especially Lagos—into powerful reflections on migration, memory, and globalisation. In 2026 Emeka Ogboh was named one of ten international winners of the Chanel Next Prize, a major contemporary art award that recognises artists shaping the future of visual art, performance, design, music, and film.
Early life and background
Emeka Ogboh studied graphic design at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating in 2001 before turning to video and sound art. In 2008 he attended the Fayoum Winter Academy in Egypt, where an intensive media class on sound shifted his focus from visual design to listening and field recording as primary artistic tools.
Born in Enugu and long based between Lagos and Berlin, Emeka Ogboh draws on his experience of moving between West Africa and Europe to examine how cities sound, taste, and feel. This biographical movement underpins his exploration of migration, diasporic identity, and the politics of borders across public spaces, art institutions, and collaborative urban projects.
Emeka Ogboh artworks
Emeka Ogboh is best known for sound installations, multi-channel compositions, and multimedia works that transform field recordings and music into site-specific environments. His ongoing series Lagos Soundscapes captures the layered sonic life of Lagos—traffic, market calls, street preachers, vendors—and re-stages it in museums and public spaces, inviting active listening and challenging assumptions about noise, order, and urban life.
Sound, markets, and global economies
A landmark work, The Way Earthly Things Are Going (2017), juxtaposes live financial market data with a polyphonic Greek lament, creating an audio-visual installation that links abstract economic flows with the emotional weight of social crisis. First realised in the context of documenta 14 in Athens, the piece has since travelled to institutions where it resonates with debates on capitalism, migration, and systemic inequality in contemporary art.
Projects such as Song of the Union (2021) for Talbot Rice Gallery and Edinburgh Art Festival stage choral sound works in historically loaded locations to address questions around national identity, Brexit, and the future of political unions. These artworks foreground collective voice, polyphony, and listening as tools for imagining new forms of solidarity and community in the public sphere.
Taste, memory, and gastro art
Alongside sound, Emeka Ogboh develops gastronomic projects that treat food and drink as vehicles for memory and cultural translation. Through beer recipes, pop-up kitchens, and participatory events—often incorporating Nigerian ingredients and flavours—he translates sonic and narrative research into taste experiences that address migration, belonging, and the economies of hospitality.
Works such as the Frankfurt-wide project This Too Shall Pass (2021) demonstrate how Ogboh connects sound, scent, and taste to open ‘cultural memory spaces’, transforming city centres into multisensory environments during times of crisis. Across media, his practice emphasises how contemporary art can engage everyday life while remaining formally rigorous and conceptually precise.
Select public commissions by Emeka Ogboh
- The Way Earthly Things Are Going, multichannel sound and LED installation, documenta 14, Athens and Kassel, 2017
- Song of the Union, site-specific sound installation at Burns Monument, Talbot Rice Gallery and Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh, 2021
- This Too Shall Pass, large-scale in situ sound installation across Frankfurt am Main, 2021
Select awards and accolades
- Chanel Next Prize, Chanel Culture Fund, 2026: €100,000 award plus a two-year international mentorship and networking programme recognising Emeka Ogboh as a trailblazing contemporary artist working with sound, installation, and multisensory practice.
- DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme fellowship, 2014
- Böttcherstraße Art Award, Bremen, 2016
- Sharjah Biennial 14 Prize (with Otobong Nkanga), 2019
- Finalist, Hugo Boss Prize, Guggenheim Museum, 2018
To be kept up to date with news relating to Emeka Ogboh, follow him on Ocula.
Emeka Ogboh Exhibitions
Emeka Ogboh has been the subject of solo exhibitions and major commissions at museums and art centres, while also contributing to influential biennials and group exhibitions that have helped define the field of sound and installation art.
Select solo exhibitions
- Song of the Union, Talbot Rice Gallery and Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh, 2021
- This Too Shall Pass, multichannel sound installation, Frankfurt am Main, 2021
- Notes on Exile, James Cohan Gallery, New York, 2020
- Solo presentations and sound installations at institutions including Gropius Bau, Berlin, and Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland
Select group exhibitions
- documenta 14, Athens and Kassel, 2017
- Skulptur Projekte Münster, Münster, 2017
- 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, 2015
- Exhibitions at museums including the Brooklyn Museum, National Museum of African Art, Menil Collection, Kiasma, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, and others
To be kept up to date with upcoming exhibitions featuring Emeka Ogboh, follow him on Ocula.
Emeka Ogboh FAQs
Who is Emeka Ogboh?
Emeka Ogboh is a Nigerian contemporary artist based in Berlin whose sound installations, field recordings, and multisensory environments explore Lagos, migration, and global urban life. You can follow Emeka Ogboh on Ocula to learn more about his work, find out about art for sale, contact his gallery, and keep up to date with upcoming exhibitions.
What is the Chanel Next Prize and why is it important for Emeka Ogboh?
The Chanel Next Prize is a biennial global art award that grants each winner €100,000 in unrestricted funding and a two-year mentorship and networking programme through the Chanel Culture Fund. In 2026 Emeka Ogboh was named one of ten Chanel Next Prize winners for his pioneering work in sound, installation, and multisensory practice, confirming his position as a leading contemporary artist whose practice is shaping future directions in art and culture.
Has Emeka Ogboh won any major art prizes or awards?
Yes, Emeka Ogboh has been awarded the 2026 Chanel Next Prize, the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin fellowship, the Böttcherstraße Art Award, and the Sharjah Biennial 14 Prize, and he has been shortlisted for the Hugo Boss Prize. These awards recognise the significance of his sound installations and public projects within international contemporary art.
Where can I see work by Emeka Ogboh?
Emeka Ogboh’s works have been presented at documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel, Skulptur Projekte Münster, the Venice Biennale, Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh, James Cohan Gallery in New York, and in city-wide projects such as This Too Shall Pass in Frankfurt. You can follow Emeka Ogboh on Ocula to receive alerts on upcoming exhibitions by the artist.
What are some important artworks by Emeka Ogboh?
Key artworks by Emeka Ogboh include Lagos Soundscapes (developed from the late 2000s and presented internationally through the 2010s and 2020s), The Way Earthly Things Are Going (2017), S_ong of the Union_ (2021), and This Too Shall Pass (2021), which combine sound, voice, and site-specific installation to address questions of economy, community, and migration. These works are frequently cited in discussions of sound art, contemporary installation, and the role of listening in global cities.
Where does Emeka Ogboh live?
Emeka Ogboh lives and works between Berlin and Lagos, maintaining close connections to both the Nigerian art scene and European institutions. This transnational perspective shapes his focus on diaspora, borders, and the sensory experience of urban life.
How does Emeka Ogboh work with sound in his art?
Emeka Ogboh records urban soundscapes, voices, and music, then layers and spatialises them into multichannel installations that transform galleries, churches, monuments, and public spaces into immersive listening environments. He often combines these sound compositions with sculptural elements, light, text, data, and even food and drink to create complex multisensory artworks.
Where can I buy Emeka Ogboh’s work?
Emeka Ogboh is represented by leading contemporary art galleries, including Galerie Imane Farès in Paris and James Cohan Gallery in New York, which present his sound installations, editions, and related works. You can explore Ocula to find out which Ocula galleries represent Emeka Ogboh and enquire directly about buying art by the artist, and follow him and his galleries to keep up to date; you can also get in touch with Ocula’s art advisory team to find out more about buying or selling work by Emeka Ogboh.
Ocula | 2026
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