To celebrate South Asian Heritage month, we have teamed up with local Newham based photographer Sylvie Belbouab to capture the stories and images of South Asian women in the borough.

Sylvie will be visiting communities in August to speak with South Asian women and archive their heritage and unique perspectives for future generations. She will be meeting with various women’s groups such as the Sister’s forum and Muslimah sport association during the annual dragon boat race in the Royal Docks, the Ladies group in Plaistow which is a weekly meet up for elderly women, The Renewal Programme community cafe, which runs alongside the food bank, a group of South Asian deaf women, Dovetail who run coffee mornings and a community garden in Forest Gate. Through this project we want to celebrate the resiliency, rich culture and vibrancy of these women and offer a platform for others to share their stories. Through this project we would like to initiate a conversation about belonging.

In addition we will present an online zine with all the collated portraits and stories. This will be available to purchase via this page from the first day of the exhibition. All proceeds for this will go to The Sisters Forum, a charity that aims to engage, educate and empower BAME women within the community who are vulnerable and isolated.