Radio Mikoko+

("mikoko" meaning mangroves in Kiswahili) is a multisensory installation developed over nine months (August 2024 – June 2025) by artists David Muiruri (KE), Joseph Kamaru (KE), Ann Mbuti (CH/GER), and Yassine Rachidi (CH/MAR).

Visitors are invited to step into the humid embrace of the Viktoriahaus at the Botanical Garden of the University of Basel, where the installation activates the senses through the moisture of the air, glimpses of mangrove creatures, and layered soundscapes from Lamu that echo the ebb and flow of the tides.

Drawing on storytelling, field recordings, material experimentation, and cartographic research, the work leads visitors on a sonic and sensory journey from Lamu Island to Basel, tracing tides of memory, relation, and cultural exchange.

The installation explores mangroves as both a theoretical framework and a living metaphor. Bringing together artists, scientists, craftspeople, designers, and technologists, the installation investigates how the complex intelligence of ecological systems can guide more reciprocal, rhizomatic and interconnected ways of living, shaping a planetary diplomacy.