Forced Out; The refugee experience, in their own voices.(Belonging: Voices of London's Refugees)

Byline: Ginanne Brownell

At first glance, it lookslike a lovely day. The green grass shines in the sun, yellow wildflowers sprout across the fields and trees are in full bloom. Streaming down this bucolic hillside are dozens of people. One man, to the far left of the photograph, is wearing a traditional Albanian white plis hat. He has a white sack slung over his shoulder--betraying the fact that he is not merely out for a stroll. This was Kosovo, June 15, 1998, and these people are refugees, fleeing with what they can carry as their country descends into war. The scene is not beautiful, but tragic.

This image is part of "Belonging: Voices of London's Refugees" (through February 2007), a powerful new exhibit at the Museum of London that captures the refugee experience in the British capital. Drawing on more than 150 interviews in 15 languages, the result is a fascinating mosaic of the cultures representing London today. "The voices of refugees are often missing from the debate about immigration [in this country] so we wanted to inject them back into the discussion," says Annette Day, the exhibition's curator.

And it is, literally, their voices that make the most dramatic statement. The museum entrance is designed to look like an airport arrivals hall, with audio speakers playing the voices of some refugees. There are four large pods where visitors can listen to others tell their stories, and watch films. Each pod has a specific theme--London, families, communities, the world--and some of the participants speak in their native ...