In February 2025, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, hosted Belongers — the first UK solo exhibition by Manchester-based Mauritian-Chagossian artist Audrey Albert, commissioned in partnership with the Imperial War Museum. 

Through portraiture, documentary photography, moving image, cyanotypes, and the recreation of a traditional Chagossian Kaz (hut), Albert explores how Chagossians represent themselves and reclaim their identities while navigating life in countries that have never fully felt like ‘home’. The works draw on two years of research interviews, highlighting personal stories and collective memory. 

Alongside Albert’s practice, Belongers included contributions from artists and researchers connected to the Chagos Islands. These voices reflected the multiplicity of Chagossian identities and experiences, with perspectives from communities in Mauritius, Wythenshawe, and Crawley — each home to large Chagossian populations. Archival glimpses of the Chagos Islands provided a poignant counterpoint, connecting contemporary experiences of displacement with the islands themselves. 

Since the forced displacement of the Chagossian people in 1968, communities have been scattered across the globe, denied the right to return to their homeland. Belongers situates this history in the present day, shining a light on how political and military agendas continue to shape lives across generations. 

One visitor wrote “A haunting insight into a lost homeland”. 

To deepen engagement with the themes of Belongers, Ffotogallery hosted a series of events that brought together audiences, artists, and members of the Chagossian community. The programme opened with Tea & Cake Tuesday on 11 February 2025, an informal preview where visitors were welcomed into the exhibition space with refreshments and conversation. This relaxed event created a warm atmosphere for audiences to be among the first to experience Belongers, while also encouraging dialogue around its themes of identity and belonging. 

On 12 April, the gallery hosted two key events. In the morning, Sunprinting: Traces of Heritage, a women-led cyanotype workshop, invited displaced women of colour to explore ideas of identity, heritage, and home through the creative process of sunprinting. Participants brought meaningful personal objects, which they transformed into striking cyanotypes, reflecting their own stories of connection and belonging. In the afternoon, Belongers: Chagossian Identity Explored – Artists in Conversation brought together Audrey Albert with fellow contributors Chrisyl Wong-Hang-Sun, Ellianne Baptiste, Shane Ah-Siong, and Charlie Bird. The panel delved into the making of the exhibition, exploring how art can navigate themes of displacement, heritage, and the question of what it means to ‘belong’ to a land never set foot on. 

The programme concluded with a Welcome Day, a celebratory closing event that brought members of the Chagossian communities from Manchester and Crawley to Cardiff.This gathering emphasised the central role of community within the project, offering a space for connection, reflection, and recognition. Together, these events highlighted the power of Belongers not only as an exhibition but as a catalyst for dialogue, creativity, and cultural exchange. 

We also invited community members and groups from the area to come and visit the exhibition and have discussions about the work and the impact on the past and present it has. One person from Cathays Community Centre wrote “It was interesting to learn about this”.  

Cardiff based Mauritius wrote Yoshedaren “a home away from home. To feel represented but also proud that our story and the Chagossian x Maurisutian identities have been showcased”. 

Exhibited in Wales — a nation that aspires to become the world’s first official Nation of Sanctuary — Belongers raised vital questions about identity, resilience, and the meaning of home. Through both the exhibition and its accompanying events, the project created a platform for dialogue, recognition, and creativity at a critical moment for the Chagossian community.