In his work, Nigerian artist Emeka Ogboh records the sounds of Lagos, particularly focusing on the noise of Danfo and Molue buses , and installs his soundscapes in the milieu of other cities. One analyst said Emeka doesn’t just celebrate the vibrant urban sounds of Lagos but foregrounds the medium of sound to reflect on the African city as a space historically shaped by and entangled in economic, social, and cultural interrelationships with the rest of the world.

Emeka’s sound installations focus on Lagos—the city in which he lives–exploring what the artist describes as its “history and aural infrastructure.” In galleries, he usually installs the work in booths where audiences listen to the recordings through earphones. Sometimes he places speakers and megaphones blaring with Lagos sounds in the streets of cities such as Cologne or Helsinki in order to initiate dialogue on globalization, migration, and multi-culturalism.

Danfo and molue comprise Lagos’s major mode of transportation. Danfo, which means “hurry” in Yoruba, is the local name given to the yellow Volkswagen minibuses of Lagos. Molue, which has its roots in the English word “maul,” are the locally fabricated 44-seat buses that ply the roads of the city. Danfo andmolue are ubiquitous on the streets of Lagos and therefore contribute to the city’s perpetual traffic jams locally referred to as “go slows.” The noise from danfo andmolue horns and the verbal “maps” from their call boys pollute the overcrowded streets of the city. Referring to the verbal route maps chanted by bus conductors as a unique feature of the Lagos sound that particularly drew his attention An eight minute and ten second clip entitled Lagos by Bus offers the listener a detailed audio landscape of Lagos. In the clip the Pidgin chatter of travelers intermingles with the clinking of beverage bottles, music from a radio, and above all the pervasive and cacophonous hooting from danfo and molue buses.

The picture above shows what the soundbooth at the Rautenstrauch-Joset Museum in Cologne looks like; people can come in and listen to this soundscape. In more recent exhibitions, Emeka installed a corporeal presentation of the Danfo which he says shifts viewer's experience from the sonic to a more physical interaction with Lagos through its most ironic symbol to create a more realistic experience of the city.

Listen to one of the sounds of a typical Lagos bus. Listening to this with my headphone makes me feel like I'm riding in the bus.

Listen here:
http://www.infonubia.com/2013/08/can-you-imagine-danfo-noises-as-form-of.html

You can also watch the video here:
http://www.infonubia.com/2013/08/can-you-imagine-danfo-noises-as-form-of.html