Björk has shared a new animated video for “Victimhood”, the clip was directed by Gabríela Friðriksdóttir & Pierre-Alain Giraud, and debuted at her Cornucopia performance in Lisbon on Friday night. Björk continues her tour, with stops in Paris, Milan, and more.

The video is a part of the world Björk created for her album Fossora. “Victimhood” discusses Jungian archetypes of self-pity, sacrifice and matriarchal care, within a melancholic composition that unfurls slowly across jagged electronics, foghorn clarinets and layered vocal harmonies.

Director Gabríela Friðriksdóttir told us; “I was absolutely fascinated by the song. I couldn’t forget it, I had some dreams about it too. It was a deep connection from the first time I heard it. The song deals with things that I often think about, it’s about self-pity and how ridiculous you were or how funny you were in a situation, or in a strange place where you had hard times, and then you see yourself. Instead of pointing at somebody else all the time, it’s so nice to rediscover yourself. To break through the concrete mask of a certain feeling at a certain time. I think in the lyrics themselves, there’s this poetry about a human situation that’s really welcoming for everyone, I think everyone can understand it”.

Björk continues; “I sort of have this illusion idea of myself as being this kind of optimist. But you have to be truthful. It’s trickier to catch the tail of the self-pity for an optimist. Sometimes it becomes the role of the women, in difficult situations to take on the catharsis and emotional work, and if there’s some dark shadows or forces in a situation, we’ll convert it into sort of good energy, for other family members, so they don’t have to, we will take care of it. That’s a strange kind of victim hat too, you choose to do that, nobody asked you to. That’s maybe where the humour comes in. It’s very interesting. I just love this painting so much. These characters are so magical, they just have such deep, deep meaning for me”.

Video credits
Directors: Gabríela Friðriksdóttir & Pierre-Alain Giraud
Creative direction: Gabríela Friðriksdóttir & Pierre-Alain Giraud
Artwork: Gabríela Friðriksdóttir
Animation: Pierre-Alain Giraud
Co-production: Novaya
Photography: Sigríður Fransiska Friðriksdóttir “Siskachisk”
Photo credit
Santiago Felipe
Cornucopia dates

Björk 2023 Tour Dates

8th September – FR, Paris – Bercy Accor Arena
12th September – IT, Milan – Mediolanum Forum
16th September – CZ, Prague – O2 Arena
19th September – AT, Vienna – Stadthalle Vienna
23th September – IT, Bologna – Unipol Arena
18th November – PO, Krakow – Tauron Arena
21th November – DE, Hamburg – Barclays Arena
24th November – DE, Leipzig – Leipzig Arena
28th November – CH, Zurich – Hallenstadion
2nd December – FR, Nantes – Zenith de Nantes
5th December – FR, Bordeaux – Grand Arena Bordeaux

order tickets for Björk HERE