Ear Maps

Ear Maps are walking routes through Nairobi. They take you through different sonic areas of the city.

The map shows you a sound walk which is especially designed for you ears. They take centre stage. Nothing else is important on your walk through the city. You will find sounding encounters along the way. Some might be more obvious than others. Some are planned, some are not!

The Ear Maps are listening experience which you can have on any day, by yourself, with your friends or even a group of strangers. Experience the city through your ears!

Download the Ear Maps by clicking on the images below.

The first map takes you on a walk through quieter parts of Nairobi’s CBD into the sonic heartland of downtown and back again. A perfect sample of CBD life.

We developed the Ear Maps sound walk format in the frame work of the Jiji Ni Ya Who?-Festival (a project by Alliance Française de Nairobi and Goethe-Institut Nairobi, funded by the Franco-German Cultural Fund.)

The first Ear Map sound walk happened on 10th and 11th of July 2021. We handed out the maps and organized performances and sounding encounters in the CBD of Nairobi. This was a great experience with many challenges and successes.

The maps by Brian Muhia, Lutivini Majanja and Junniah Wamaitha were developed in the framework of the TURN2 workshop curated by Rosie Olang in 2022.

The Ear Maps concept is not designed to be a single event. It is an effort to get to know the city of Nairobi through its sounds. It can be practiced by anyone and everyone can develop an Ear Map.

We would love to see and experience yours. Get involved and send us your Ear Map to [email protected]