KMRU

Event details

Joseph Kamaru, aka KMRU, is a Nairobi-born, Berlin-based sound artist whose work is grounded in the discourse of field recording, noise and sound art. His work posits expanded listening cultures of sonic thoughts and sound practices, proposing outer-auditory listenings beyond the norm. KMRU’s practice extends to creative compositions, installations and performances, and he has earned international acclaim for his performances in far-flung locales such as the Barbican, Berlin Atonal, CTM festival, Big Ears, Le Guess Who, PRÉSENCES électronique and DarkMofo. He has also exhibited sound works at Ars Electronica, Art Gallery of NSW, Sharjah and Venice Architecture Biennale, among other notable venues.

His extensive discography spans labels such as Editions Mego, Touch, Subtext, Seil Records and his own imprint OFNOT, receiving widespread critical acclaim. His 2020 Editions Mego classic album Peel was named as one of Pitchfork’s 100 Best Albums of the 2020s So Far. Over the past five years, KMRU has released numerous collaborative works, including Limen with Aho Ssan, Disconnect with Kevin Richard Martin, aka The Bug, and formed a duo project A|||oy with Elvin Brandhi, which premiered at Berlin Atonal in 2023.

In 2025, KMRU composed the score for Totality, which premiered at the Uppsala Short Film Festival, and continued his long-term research into mangrove ecologies, presenting installations in Lamu (Kenya), Basel and the Venice Architecture Biennale. His work was also exhibited at Musée d’ethnographie de Genève (MEG), as part of Afrosonica, and at Kunsthalle Charlottenburg for The Museum of Sound. The same year, he released Heavy Combination, an acclaimed archival compilation of music by his grandfather, Joseph Kamaru, on Disciples, and served as a jury member for the ZKM Giga-Hertz Award.

In 2026, KMRU presented Kin, his follow-up album on Editions Mego, alongside a new solo exhibition in Düsseldorf as part of IMAI / Kunsthalle’s Circulating Copies. He is a SHAPE artist, recipient of a 2023 Prix Ars Electronica Honorary Mention and holds an MA in Sound Studies and Sonic Arts from UdK Berlin. KMRU has carved out a serious and definitive space on the list of essential authors in ambient-experimental music and is one of the most prolific and innovative artists in his field.

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