Using sound, photography, and food respectively, artists Emeka Oghoh, Iké Udé, and Temitayo Ogunbiyi with chef Renèe Chuks question assumptions concerning culture, geography, and identity. By appealing to the senses, these artists urge audiences to remember and recognize the complexity inherent in representation; natural, spiritual, and social ecosystems; and the performances within everyday life.
Taste! is a platform for creative encounters centering on a multifaceted, far-reaching Lagos. Realized in collaboration with the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), ART X Lagos, and the African Artists’ Foundation, Taste! is the foundation experience of 24 Hours of the Smithsonian in Lagos, the inaugural event that launches the National Museum of African Art’s new international presence.
Market Symphony (detail)
2016
mixed-media sound installation, commissioned by Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
Taste! Sound is an immersive live listening session with artist Emeka Ogboh. Visitors are invited to listen closely, and together, to music and soundscapes that include field recordings Ogboh made in Lagos. The artist recontextualizes sounds from Lagos and other cities to highlight contemporary microeconomics, reflect on the social dynamics of immigrant populations, and respond to pertinent planetary issues.
During this session, he will revisit the early years of his career, discuss his crossover into the music industry, debut a track from his forthcoming music album, and offer a sneak preview of his major forthcoming project, Lagos Underwater. Ogboh’s music and sounds will be interspersed with conversation with the artist, livestreamed from Berlin, as he shares his process, influences, and motivations.
Biography
Emeka Ogboh
Emeka Ogboh uses sound and gastronomy to create installations that have included music, soundscapes, limited editions of artisanal beer, sculpture, and collaborations with chefs. He increasingly uses these works to examine how visual art can catalyze conversations about the environment. Having exhibited at documenta 14 (2017), the Venice Biennale (2015), and the Dakar Biennale (2014), he is an internationally acclaimed artist with works in major collections worldwide, including the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. This past September, to mark the close of Afrique 2020, Ogboh presented a medley of his installations capturing Lagos at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
