From Displacement to Belonging: Co-Curated Exhibition Opens Aboard Scotland’s Oldest Ship

What We Carry has been developed through a creative partnership between HMS Unicorn and Bring Together, working alongside members of the Ukrainians Together community. The exhibition represents the next phase of a collaboration that began in 2024, when the two organisations came together to offer welcome, cultural exchange and supportive learning opportunities for families displaced by conflict.

Bring Together is a Scotland-based social enterprise working with displaced communities to transform experiences of displacement into opportunities for resilience, connection, shared learning and cultural exchange. 

Early partnership activity focused on building confidence, supporting language development and introducing participants to museums and heritage spaces across Tayside. Through these shared experiences, families were supported to develop familiarity with cultural institutions and foster a growing sense of belonging. 

In 2025, the collaboration evolved into the creation of What We Carry. The exhibition was developed collaboratively with members of the Ukrainians Together community and facilitated by HMS Unicorn staff, working closely with Bring Together co-founders Vitalii Diakov and Hanna Dushova. A community-led approach has shaped every stage of the project, ensuring the exhibition developed as a safe and welcoming space for dialogue, creativity and shared learning. 

Through a series of creative workshops, participants explored what we carry during times of transition,  emotionally, physically and symbolically. These reflections took shape through creative making, personal storytelling and shared discussion, forming the foundations of the exhibition. 

Rather than presenting a single narrative, What We Carry has been shaped through dialogue and collective thinking. Community voices sit at its centre, with HMS Unicorn acting as facilitator, creating space for multiple perspectives, cultural exchange and an evolving sense of collective belonging. 

HMS Unicorn extends its thanks to Museums Galleries Scotland for supporting the project through the Delivering Change Fund, as well as to Vitalii Diakov and Hanna Dushova of Bring Together, and to all participants whose generosity, creativity and openness made the exhibition possible. 

What We Carry is due to open aboard HMS Unicorn from March 27th until June 2026. The exhibition will be located on the Upper Deck and will be included with standard admission.