Cry Baby (2020)

Cry Baby consists of a split screen of 11 GIFs, small short images cut together that run together, and a soundtrack. The work stems from Lydia Ö Diakité  approaching crying as a practice to heal, as a way of freeing oneself from internalized racism and oppression. 

In a densely vegetated landscape,Cry Baby performs in 11 different glitched scenes through crying, meditation and dance, while in the soundtrack their voice talks about the healing power of crying. Cry Baby opens up questions about bodily experience when the tears are allowed to roll, and how this release collects and heals common traumas, which for Diakité are connected to a common history and experience for the afro-diaspora.

Concept, performance, text, photo editing and production: Lydia Östberg Diakité 

Music: Ribka Pattinama Coleman 

Sound Production and Photographer: Holger Hartvig

Costume: Aida Ramana in collaboration with Lydia Östberg Diakité