King's College London

Belongings, a new, free and immersive exhibition from renowned artist Susan Aldworth will open in The Arcade, Bush House, on London’s Strand, on 2 October. This will be the first exhibition in the Lost & Found: Stories of sanctuary and belonging programme of arts and ideas, curated by King’s Culture.

Challenging anti-asylum narratives, Belongings aims to create a sense of belonging amongst people seeking sanctuary; while challenging other visitors to consider what action they can take to support them to truly feel and know that they belong.

The exhibition centres around the imagined contents of the suitcase Susan Aldworth’s grandmother, Luigia, brought with her when she was migrating from Northern Italy to London, exactly one hundred years ago in 1924. Luigia was just 23 years old, newly married, carrying a small baby and travelling on her own, when she left Italy forever.

Alongside the basic necessities for her and her baby, Luigia’s suitcase held her grandmother’s linen nightdress, which had been passed down to from generation to generation. In Belongings, thirty-five individual antique pieces of clothing, including this nightdress, have been hand-embroidered with family photographs, stories and recipes. Suspended in mid-air, these pieces beautifully highlight the transitory and emotional nature of an uprooted life.

Through these stitched stories and biographical information about Luigia’s experience of being a migrant in the UK, Belongings communicates the importance of creating inclusive spaces for refugees and migrants to share their stories and contribute to the community they reside in.

Belongings also explores how migration stories shape British identity, revealing the need for empathy and meaningful dialogue, and the need to challenge prevailing anti-immigration and anti-asylum narratives by fostering empathy, understanding, and connection between refugees, asylum seekers, and the broader society.

Exhibition Programme

A creative and thought-provoking free activities programme will accompany the exhibition. This includes Hassan Akkad’s film Matar - a film about an asylum seeker confronting the harsh realities of the UK's broken asylum system; an embroidery workshop for people seeking sanctuary and students to come together to embroider a tent and reflect on the notion of belonging and talks that discuss displacement and belonging from different perspectives.

Belongings – A collaboration

Belongings has been organised by Prof Hanna Kienzler, from King’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, in collaboration with Susan Aldworth, Prof Cornelius Katona, Dr Leonie Ansems de Vries, Dr Guntars Ermansons, and A&M Consultancy.

The programme builds on work by members of the Refugee Mental Health and Place Network at King’s, and it is supported by the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health.

Programme Overview

Exhibition
Open Monday-Friday, 10.00 – 18.00 from Wednesday 2 October – Friday 8 November 2024
The Arcade, Bush House, King’s College London

Talk and exhibition tour with artist Susan Aldworth
Wednesday 9 October, 13:00-14:00
The Arcade, Bush House, King’s College London

Film Screening: Matar + Q&A with director Hassan Akkad
Thursday 23 October 2024, 17:00-18:30
Strand Campus, King’s College London (Room TBA)

Embroidery Workshop – Session 1
Friday 18 October 2024, 11:00 – 13:00 with the option of sewing untutored until 14:00
The Arcade, Bush House, King’s College London

Embroidery Workshop – Session 2
Friday 18 October 2024, 14:00-16:00 with the option of sewing untutored until 17:00
The Arcade, Bush House, King’s College London

Talk and exhibition tour with artist Susan Aldworth
Thursday 24 October, 17:00-18:00 The Arcade, Bush House, King’s College London

From Arrival to Integration: Building communities for refugees and for Britain
The regional launch of the new report by the Commission on the Integration of Refugees
Thursday 30 October 2024, 18:00 – 20:00
Venue details TBA

Expert panel: The implications of safe pathways and belonging for refugee integration and mental health (Online)
Date & details TBA