Ten Minutes with Emeka Ogboh: On Active Listening

A maker of multisensory artworks reflects on the importance of listening to our surroundings.

In 2014, Nigerian-born artist Emeka Ogboh moved from Lagos to Berlin. This experience marked not only a shift in his surroundings, but also a shift in his artwork. “Shuttling between two places,” Ogboh explains, “your brain has to do this switch. And that fusion of two places started occurring to me.” His immersive installation Lagos State of Mind III, currently on view in MoMA’s second-floor galleries, blends the experience of living in these two cities.

For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, just in time for World Listening Day—an annual celebration held on July 18—we invite you to explore your surroundings and reflect on how sound shapes our world.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/923