A national photography exhibition capturing what ‘freedom’ means to communities across the UK including Hartlepool and offering a portrait of people, place and belonging is heading to the borough.
Our Freedom: Then and Now – which will run from Monday 20 April to Monday 11 May in Community Hub Central in York Road – brings together images from 60 locally‑led creative projects around the country.
Developed by Future Arts Centres and Open Eye Gallery, the exhibition forms part of the national Our Freedom: Then and Now programme which last year marked 80 years since the end of the Second World War.
Communities of all ages and backgrounds were invited to reflect on their own histories, experiences and identities, considering what freedom meant in 1945 and how those ideas resonate today.
In Hartlepool, the Our Freedom project brought together Hartlepool Borough Council, the Heugh Battery Museum, local community groups, artists and Armed Forces veterans.
To document the UK projects, 22 photographers were commissioned by Future Arts Centres and Open Eye Gallery through the Socially Engaged Photography Network to work with each community.
The resulting exhibition offers a rich visual record of participation and collaboration, featuring contributors from schoolchildren to veterans, with participants aged from 0 to 100.
It creates a space to reflect on shared histories and collective memory, while highlighting the role of ‘community’ in shaping the freedoms experienced across the UK today.
Following on from its London premiere at the Southbank Centre this month, the exhibition is touring to 17 arts centres and libraries across the UK, sharing the stories and images nationwide.
Gemma Ptak, Hartlepool Borough Council’s Director of Housing, Communities and Growth, said: “We’re delighted to welcome this powerful exhibition to Community Hub Central.
“Hartlepool’s contribution to the project is full of pride, reflection, local identity, and partnership, and it’s fantastic to see our communities represented on the national stage.
“We hope residents will come along, explore the stories on display and feel inspired by the voices captured across the exhibition.”
Annabel Turpin and Gavin Barlow, Programme Co‑Directors of Our Freedom: Then and Now, said: “This exhibition brings together voices from 60 communities across the UK, reflecting on freedom then and now.
“Opening in London gives these stories a national platform, before the exhibition travels back out across the country to the places and people at its heart.”
More information about the exhibition and the full list of participating photographers is available at ourfreedom.org.uk/exhibition.
Entry to the exhibition is free. Community Hub Central is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9am-4pm, Wednesday 9am-6pm and Saturday 9am-1pm.