Ye awright, pal? exhibition launches in Kilbryde Hospice

Ye awright, pal? exhibition launches in Kilbryde Hospice

The Ye awright, pal? exhibition, unlike the usual frame by frame layout, is set up in a way that forges community - notes Priscila Froes, a Migrant Media Ambassador with Migrant Voice who attended the exhibition opening

“The drawings are hung up in a way where they are almost like rain, and this makes you interact with the art and cross paths and interact with other people,” she says. 

The drawings explore the multifaceted and raw emotions that are wound up in migrating to a new place; the bittersweet feeling of leaving part of yourself behind, and the yearning for home comforts, family and friends. It also highlights the curiosity and shocks of new cultures, evolving identities, and hopes for the future amid discrimination and prejudice. 

“I am a migrant myself, so I can relate somehow to all of the drawings, even though I am not from that nationality,” continues Priscila. 

She explains that when you move to a new country you have a series of expectations, but they come laced with an underlying sense of the unknown and apprehension for the road ahead. 

“We all came here with that same feeling, yet the exhibition shows that despite that feeling we end up talking about these things that are common in Glasgow, like the weather, or complaining about the potholes as one of the drawings shows.” she says 

“What I took from that one is that we are all the same in the end, the problems that we face, housing, feeding ourselves, buying clothes, everything is just so similar and human. There is no real difference between humans, apart from language and some other things.”  

This open and honest discourse around migrants and immigration is more important than ever in the current political landscape and the often sensationalised nature of mainstream media.

“It's important for us [Migrants], to speak for ourselves, and be able to share these stories with people, so they can undo the harm that the media is unfortunately doing,” Priscila adds.

The collection aims to document migrant heritage and recognise it as an integral part of Scottish heritage, through Migrant Voice’s Putting Ourselves in the Picture project. The exhibition at Kilbryde Hospice is open from 1st August to the 5th September 2025 with free entry for all.

“It [The exhibition] makes you want to involve yourself more and listen to other people's experiences, and It's important that people have an understanding of what people have really lived,” says Karen Dillin who attended the opening.

“You should always be kind to people because it costs nothing.”

The exhibition paves the way for conversation and a better understanding of migration by raising and answering different questions from ‘What did I leave behind?’ to ‘How do I see Scotland?’ to offer a holistic view on the reasons people move away from their home country and the lives they lead here in Scotland.  

“I'm hoping it will challenge people, inspire people, give people something to talk about and that the families that come to visit patients here might come out for a cup of coffee and just see something that they’re not expecting,” says Anna Ludwig, Creative Arts lead for the Hospice. 

“When you see it all together in one place it's really powerful,” she adds.

Photographs by Emily Shenton