Ghost Empire § Mauritius-Chagos

Join us at 7pm in Galway Arts Centre | Nuns Island Theatre for the screening of Ghost Empire § Mauritius-Chagos (2025), directed by Susan Thomson, as part of the exhibition Still, We Gather.
Followed by a Q&A with the artist, and Director and Curator of Galway Arts Centre Megs Morley.

Free. Booking required HERE

For LGBTQ+ people in formerly colonised countries, the ghostly presence of the British Empire is often all too real. Join filmmaker Susan Thomson for a screening of Ghost Empire § Mauritius-Chagos, a powerful documentary exploring the complex history and ongoing struggles of the Chagos Archipelago and its displaced communities. The Chagos Islands were illegally detached from Mauritius during the granting of independence, and in the film the criminalisation of queer lives and constitutional challenges to the law collide with climate change and indigenous people’s fight to return to their homeland in a dreamy, experimental yet hard-hitting documentary. The award-winning Ghost Empire project series explores the legacy of British colonialism on LGBTQ+ rights around the world together with other legacies such as slavery, sedition laws and partition. Ghost Empire § Mauritius-Chagos is a hybrid documentary film which explores layers of colonialism (British, French, Dutch and even Irish), forced evictions, exile, and contested sovereignty. The film acts as a living newspaper, featuring Chagossian voices who have recently been in the headlines regarding the continuing use of Diego Garcia as a US military base and the UK-Mauritius deal.

Image: Courtesy of artist

Susan Thomson is a writer, filmmaker and visual artist, recently writing and directing The Swimming Diaries (2024) funded by an Arts Council of Ireland Reel Art film award, which premiered at the Dublin International Film Festival, and is screening widely in 2025-26 including at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Bradford Literature Festival, Fabrica and Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival, and the soundtrack album was featured on BBC Radio 3 Night Tracks. The film is based on her memoir which was previously exhibited and sold at Artbook@PS1 MoMA, New York.

They are also continuing to direct the award-winning series of films, Ghost Empire (2013-2025), funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, which explores constitutional challenges to British colonial anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Ghost Empire § Mauritius-Chagos (2025) premiered at Leeds Queer Film Festival in 2025 and screened at Bradford Literature Festival, London Lift-Off Film Festival and has won several Accolade awards (Documentary Feature, Social Justice, LGBTQ+ and Original Score) and Impact Docs Awards (Documentary Feature, Liberation/Social Justice/Protest). She has screened her films at Anthology Film Archives, New York, the Tate Modern, the Barbican, INIVA, London, and the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro.
susanthomson.co.uk

Presented as part of the’Thursday Lates’ programme, funded by Galway City Council and the Department of Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sports as part of the Galway City Night-Time Economy Action Plan.

Accessibility & Assistance

When booking your tickets, please let us know of any special requirements so we can make your visit as enjoyable as possible.

If you book online, phone +353 (0) 91 565 886 or email nunsisland@galwayartscentre.ie to let us know of any special requirements.