“Diaspora Child” : A New Project From ONO
Photography and videography by ONO. Writing and editing by Kian Gannon, in collaboration with ONO.
“Diaspora Child”, the latest piece from photographer, videographer, and overall creative mind ONO.
This photo/video project from ONO had been in the vault for a few months until he decided to follow through with it. “I’ve recently been invested in how to create more mixed-media projects” says ONO. With that being said, he had originally imagined this project to come in the form of a series of self-portraits. “I felt that I needed a different face to ground this image in, and recently I’ve been looking for ways to take my art outside myself” says ONO. Using this idea, he reached out to a friend, Azaria Nana, and found that he matched the stoic demeanor needed to convey this projects’ essence.
“As for this concept, I’m at a stage in my art where I feel I am introducing myself through the many facets of my existence.” says ONO. One of these facets is being a child of the diaspora. Being the son of first-generation immigrants and growing up navigating an ethnoscape and culmination of many generations of African existences and their influences on the western world, ONO tapped into something that is not a new reality in his life, and not one of his own creation. “It has stood long before I ever came along, and will continue long after I am gone. My work is an homage, this piece is reverence and meant to provide a point of recognition for an existence that millions of others can relate to.” says ONO.
“I am not the only diaspora child. Thinking along these lines, I wanted to show this facet of myself in my work, and thus “Diaspora Child” was born.” says ONO.
The quote “Si dieu le veut, l’enfant de la diaspora prospere” is found in the video portion of this project. This translates to “God willing, the diaspora child prospers”. This was changed from ONO’s original idea of using the word thrives rather than prospers, as it added to the smoothness of the translation and the tone of the phrase.
“For personal reasons, I decided this work should also be a testament to my personal faith and my relationship with God. The phrase is actually meant to read as a prayer, asking if it pleases God, He should please take care of the diaspora child in the face of daily hardships” says ONO. Through his own experiences, ONO finds that many members of the diaspora in the western world, especially as an immigrant, face a plethora of struggles navigating what is really a foreign land. “Yes, we’ve been here for generations at this point, but the current reality of being a black person in North America speaks for itself. Whether you’re many generations settled or a new immigrant, the diaspora is characterized by hardship to an extent.” says ONO.
ONO continues, “We’re largely united in grief. Thus, many profess a faith of some sort, and we pray that whoever is on the other end of those prayers should take care of us. This piece reflects that as well, a unity of faith”.
As for ONO’s use of French translation, he has been focusing on including a piece of culture within each of his works. For example, a traditional proverb or native tongue tied into the project statement in which a member of the diaspora is shown. The model for this project, Azaria, happens to be of French-speaking descent, so that was ONO’s way of nodding to him.
Coming to a close, ONO reflects on the effect of the diaspora on his art and his influences/inspiration in creating. “The truth is that I’m blessed to be able to identify with the African diaspora. It’s overflowing with culture and that means it’s overflowing with inspiration. It’s the reason we have the patterns shown in this project, and the reason I was able to have Omah Lay as the backing track for the video portion.” says ONO.
Whether or not ONO has consistent plans for this theme of work is up in the air, however he acknowledges how much material, from afro culture all the way to hip-hop culture, there is for him to draw from. “It’s really just a matter of how it’ll choose to reflect itself in each of my works going forward. I won’t give too much of my creative process away, but that’s usually how it goes, an aspect of the culture will pop into my head at any point in time and will fit into place. We’ll see where it all goes next.” says ONO.
Photography and videography by ONO
Modelling by Azaria Nana
