What does it mean to belong, for people from South Asian backgrounds in Hong Kong? Belonging is a person’s experience of identity in relation to affinity with places, spaces and groups. The Navigating Belonging project, running from 2022 to 2024, has aimed to understand how people in South Asian communities in Hong Kong define, find and negotiate their belonging. 

Our research asks: (1) How does belonging emerge in and through narrative and photography? (2) How can we develop innovative approaches to researching belonging? and (3) How can our understandings of belonging be used to inform policies, practices and debate on social integration? 

The project, developed in collaboration with be/longing, involved research workshops with three groups of participants: women who came to Hong Kong as asylum seekers; university students; and a group of senior high school students and professionals. In the workshops, participants carried out collaborative photography, taking and discussing photographs relating to their experiences of belonging. They then brought together these photographs and narratives as digital stories displayed online. Researchers documented the process using photography and video, taking fieldnotes, and recording interaction and interviews. In this online symposium, project team members and participants from each group present and discuss the digital stories and emergent findings from the project.
 

Zoom Registration Link: https://hkust.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUucOivpzwsHNUozYeaGuGUqMVdI0mM6ToG#/registration

be/longing is a community arts-for-education lab that harnesses the transformative power of storytelling and the creative arts to co-create cultures of inclusion in Hong Kong. Through participatory storytelling and the creative arts, be/longing reimagines the way in which we reflect on what it means to belong to Hong Kong. Website: https://belonginghk.wordpress.com/