Nyokabi Kariũki & Tuomas A Laitinen

At EMS October 15-17 2025

Nyokabi Kariũki (she/her) is a Kenyan composer, sound artist, and artistic researcher. Her sonic imagination is ever-evolving, spanning across various genres from classical contemporary to experimental electronic music, explorations in sound art, pop, film, (East) African musical traditions and more. She performs with the piano, voice, electronics, and on several instruments from the African continent — particularly on kalimbas and the mbira. Nyokabi’s work, going from her acclaimed EP peace places: kenyan memories (SA Recordings) to her debut album FEELING BODY (cmntx records), have been described as “deft” (The Quietus) and “transcendent” (The Guardian), with Bandcamp highlighting seeing her as “becoming a crucial voice in contemporary composition and experimental music.” She seeks to create meaningful and challenging art, illuminated by a commitment to the preservation and reflection on African thought, language and stories.

Tuomas A. Laitinen is an artist working with sound, glass, and installation. His works have been shown in the 21st Biennale of Sydney, 1st Helsinki Biennial, Kai Art Center (Tallinn), Vdrome, SADE LA (Los Angeles), Amado Art Space (Seoul), Art Sonje Center (Seoul), EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, and MOCA Shanghai. Laitinen composes situations that inquire into the porous interconnectedness of language, body, myth, and matter within morphing ecosystems.

His works have been featured in Art in America, ArtReview, Bomb Magazine, Mousse Magazine, and The Wire .

Laitinen’s electronic music reflects the contemporary entanglements of mythical past, sensorial knowledge, and emerging futures. His debut album Sapiduz (Öm sound / Svart Records 2022) is a tentacular body of sounds containing traces of early music, mutated vocals, and granular electronic composition techniques.

During the residency, Laitinen and Kariũki are recording materials for a new multichannel ultrasonic audio installation which will premiere in New York in late 2026, produced by PALO Art Productions and supported by The Finnish Cultural Foundation and Arts Promotion Centre Finland.