Bibby Boys exhibition at Photofusion documents life aboard the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge

Starting from Tues 17th March, Photofusion will be displaying Bibby Boys, an exhibition that documents the experience of the men aboard the Bibby Stockholm barge and the community that rallied …

Feb 19, 2026 - 08:18

Bibby Boys exhibition at Photofusion documents life aboard the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge

Starting from Tues 17th March, Photofusion will be displaying Bibby Boys, an exhibition that documents the experience of the men aboard the Bibby Stockholm barge and the community that rallied around them.

Opening on Tuesday 17th March 2026 the project is a a collaborative photographic series by Theo McInnes and Thomas Ralph, exhibited in Photofusion’s Gallery 1.

The Bibby Stockholm, a repurposed maintenance barge moored off the island, was used by the UK government to accommodate people seeking asylum.

Many of the men onboard had fled persecution, war, or climate-related displacement, only to find themselves confined in conditions Amnesty International described as “utterly shameful” and “reminiscent of the prison hulks of the Victorian era”.

Promoted as a cost-saving alternative to hotel accommodation, the Bibby Stockholm became a highly visible symbol of a deterrence-led asylum policy.

Shot over more than a year in Portland, Dorset, the work looks beyond headlines and political rhetoric to focus on daily life, waiting, and the relationships that formed during prolonged periods of limbo as the men awaited their asylum interviews.

With no access to the barge itself, the artists worked from the outside, observing how life unfolded across the island and how acts of solidarity, care, and friendship emerged in response.

At a time when asylum is often framed as crisis or threat, Bibby Boys offers another way of looking. The artists reflect:

“We hope this work stands as a testament to the men’s enduring spirit in the face of a system that so often neglects their humanity, and as an example of new forms of community in times of polarisation and mass displacement.”

Bibby Boys arrives at a moment when questions of migration, asylum, and belonging are sharply contested.

The exhibition aims to become a meeting point for people exploring radical friendship, offering space to connect, share knowledge, and build networks. In places like Crowborough, proposals to house people seeking asylum in a disused army barracks have sparked protest, yet the quiet formation of new friendship and support groups is also under way.

These emerging networks are drawing directly on lessons learned in Portland, showing how acts of solidarity can travel from one place to another.

The exhibition also coincides with the Together Against The Far Right march, marking a wider national response to rising xenophobia and organised hostility. Its timing connects political rhetoric and public mobilisation to the everyday lives of people seeking safe refuge.