About the CHAGOS project

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LIVING CULTURAL HERITAGE

In 2000, the Chagos Refugees Group won a historic victory in the UK High Court. Following the judgement, the UK granted British citizenship to Chagos islanders and most of their second-generation descendants under the British Overseas Territories Act in 2002. Since then, many Chagossians have migrated to the UK, settling in Crawley and other parts of the country including London and Manchester. Over the past five decades, while spread across continents and prevented from returning to the Chagos Archipelago, the Chagossians have struggled to maintain their cultural practices.

This website has been created as part of the project CHAGOS: Cultural Heritage Across Generations, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK. The project aims to help share and preserve the cultural heritage of the Chagossian community.

During workshops in Mauritius and the UK in 2017, Chagossian elders shared their knowledge of coconut handicrafts, medicinal plants, cuisine, musical instruments and song and dance, with the younger generations. In 2018, films and photographs from the workshops were displayed in exhibitions in Mauritius at the Chagos Refugees Group Centre, Rose-Hill Plaza, and the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Centre (for the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage); in the UK at Crawley Museum; and in La Réunion at Saint-Pierre Town Hall. They are also featured on this website.

CREDITS

CHAGOS is a collaborative project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. We are grateful to our project partners, members of the extended Chagossian community, and other participants who helped to make the project a great success. The project would not have been possible without their dedication and contributions.

Project partners:

- Laura Jeffery, Project Director, University of Edinburgh

- Rebecca Rotter, Project Co-Director, University of Edinburgh

- Chagos Refugees Group, Mauritius and UK

- Vinesh Hookoomsing,  Linguist, Mauritius

- Gopalen Chellapermal, Film Director, Wild Square Production, Mauritius

- Satyen Bhujun, Film Director, AVARTS, Mauritius

- Hans Ramduth, Exhibition Designer, Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Mauritius

- Saradha Soobrayen, Poet, UK

- Carolyn Murphy, Arts and Heritage Project Manager, UK

- Crawley Museum, UK

- Chagos Solidarity Trust Fund, Mauritius

Thanks to Stuart Walker at the University of Edinburgh for the technical support provided for this website.

LERITAZ KILTIREL VIVAN

An 2000, Groupe Refugiés Chagos ti gagn enn viktwar istorik dan UK High Court. Apre sa zizman-la, Langleter donn bann Sagosien ek laplipar zot desandan segonn zenerasion nasionalite britanik, dan kad lalwa British Overseas Territories Act 2002. Depi sa, boukou Sagosien finn emigre Langleter, zot inn fer zot baz dan Crawley ek dan lezot plas kouma Lond ek Manchester. 50 an finn pase, mem ki zot disperse inpe partou dan lemond, e ki zot pena drwa retourn dan Arsipel Sagos, bann Sagosien finn kontinie lite pou prezerv zot kiltir, gard zot tradision vivan.

Sa website-la form parti proze CHAGOS: Cultural Heritage Across Generations, avek fon Arts and Humanities Research Council dan UK. Proze CHAGOS inn kree pou ed lakominote Sagosien paprtaz ek protez zot kiltir.

Pandan ban seminer dan Moris ek dan Langleter an 2017, bann natif in partaz zot kiltir avek bann zenes pou zot konn kiltir Sagosien pli bien. Seminer ti fer lor bann aktivite kouma: artizana koko, lakwizinn, plant medsin, ek sega. An 2018, bann fim ek bann foto ki'nn kree dan seminer form parti de expozision dan Moris dan sant Groupe Refugiés Chagos, Rose-Hill Plaza, ek Sant Swami Vivekananda (a UNESCO Comité intergouvernemental pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel immatériel); dan UK dan Crawley Museum; ek dan La Réunion dan L'hotel de ville de Saint-Pierre. Ou pou trouv zot website-la.

REMERSIMAN

CHAGOS enn proze Arts and Humanities Research Council. Proze la enn kolaborasion ant kominote Sagossien ensam avek partner. Nou exprim nou rekonesans a tou nou partner lor sa proze-la, bann manb lakominote Sagosien ek tou lezot partisipan ki finn ed nou reisi sa proze-la. Pa ti pou posib fer li san zot koudme ek zot langazman.

Partner:

- Laura Jeffery, Proze Director, Liniversite Edinburgh

- Rebecca Rotter, Proze Co-Director, Liniversite Edinburgh

- Groupe Refugiés Chagos, Moris ek UK

- Vinesh Hookoomsing,  exper dan langaz Kreol, Moris

- Gopalen Chellapermal, Film Director, Wild Square Production, Moris

- Satyen Bhujun, Film Director, AVARTS, Moris

- Hans Ramduth, Exhibition Designer, Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Moris

- Saradha Soobrayen, Poet, UK

- Carolyn Murphy, Exper dan Patrimwann, UK

- Crawley Museum, UK

- Chagos Solidarity Trust Fund, Moris

Website-la li lor platform Omeka avek soutien Stuart Walker dan Liniversite Edinburgh.