Deljeem Rai: Cearns

Main Gallery
Exhibition opening:  5pm, Fri 28 August 2026
Exhibition run: 29 August – 10 October 2026

Uprooted from his home, community and wider family in Nepal as a teenager, then transplanted halfway across the world, it was not until Deljeem found himself in the Cearns, a small housing estate in Stornoway, that he rediscovered the sense of community and belonging. There, he and his family were welcomed into a close-knit community where members supported and looked out for one another.

This body of work is born from a twofold desire: firstly, through portraiture and environmental photography, to express the sense of community and belonging he found there; and secondly, to give the people of the community an opportunity to express themselves, their story and their home on their own terms, rather than through the assumptions and expectations of others.

The project offers a view of an island community that challenges traditional ideas of life in the Outer Hebrides, cementing the Cearns community as a vibrant and valid part of island culture.

Deljeem is a Nepali photographer based between Glasgow and his home of the Isle of Lewis. His work has been exhibited throughout the UK and has been awarded the British Journal of Photography Portrait of Britain Award for 2022, 2023 and 2025. He was a finalist in the Scottish Portrait Awards in 2023 and his selected work was exhibited throughout Scotland in prestigious galleries such as the Scottish Art Club Edinburgh, Kirkcudbright Gallery in Dumfries and Galloway and The Glasgow Art Club.