Diaty Diallo

I had the chance to travel through Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, and Atlanta—on foot, by bike, scooter, public transportation, and taxi.

I wandered around, listened to some House music in Chicago, Techno in Detroit, attended poetry open mics, Gospel concerts, and second lines in New Orleans, Zydeco jam circles in Lafayette, and marching bands and futuristic jazz improvisations in Atlanta. I visited cultural, institutional, and alternative spaces (skateparks, wastelands, etc.).

While exploring these cities, I documented my experiences, connected cultural phenomena, and deepened my understanding of racial and social identities. I explored the concept of the Black Atlantic as a catalyst, a space for inter- and intra-cultural circulation, and a political echo chamber.

I also experienced the scale, density shifts, demographic changes, and architectural diversity, observing how neighborhoods flow into one another, the stakes linked to certain transformations—especially economic—and spaces still marked by forms of segregation.

Thus, I had the continuous feeling of being confronted with complex, organic, and shifting geographies, sociologies, and cultures, where absolutely nothing was self-evident or aligned with my preconceived notions.

I took numerous photos, recorded sound fragments, and created playlists from songs I heard in public spaces. I even composed some music.

These experiences broadened my political and artistic inquiries. I discovered new ways of performing and creating directly in the streets, which continue to inspire me. I crossed intriguing, charged, melancholic landscapes that naturally intertwined with those of my novel in progress.

Most of the music I listen to, rap (trap, drill, jersey drill…), blues, folk, techno, etc. take their roots north America. But I’m aware I have many gaps to fill before having a more coherent view of what could be a cultural diasporic continuum between USA and France. 

My interest in traveling to several major U.S. cities primarily stems from the visible aspects of transformation, such as gentrification, which often conceal deeper philosophical connections and profound disparities, including the contrasting urban geometries of French and American metropolises. 

I will spend time in public spaces to observe what choreographies are happening, inventory the ghosts of the past, the shreds of memory personified by all the track of resistance in the urban landscape, to understand how different layers work together or not; eras, type of occupations, age, class, gender distribution, public policies decisions. 

I have one specific imaginary world for each city that I picked for the project and of course, it starts with the music : New Orleans with the birth of Jazz and Mardi Gras, New York with rap, no wave and musicals, Chicago with house and drill, Detroit with disco and techno, Atlanta and Miami with Dirty South, Baltimore with b-more club, etc. and a whole original soundtrack that goes with that itinerary. I want to listen to music where it is produced, streamed and played live, I want to dance on it.  

I have a need to examine reality and assess how it intersects with the narratives presented in fiction. I want to see if the actual landscape aligns with the stories I’ve heard: Is there a touch of Treme in New Orleans, shades of Spring Breakers in Miami, or echoes of She’s Gotta Have It in NYC?