Today we are publishing the final report for Our Freedom: Then and Now, a nationwide creative programme that invited communities across the UK to reflect on what freedom means 80 years after the end of the Second World War.
Delivered by Future Arts Centres in partnership with Libraries Connected and Open Eye Gallery, and supported using public funding by the UK Government through Arts Council England, the programme brought together 40 arts centres and 20 libraries across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
At its heart, Our Freedom set out to create space for conversation. Rather than asking communities to commemorate the past in a single way, the programme invited people to explore how freedom is understood and experienced today, and how those experiences have been shaped by history.
Gavin Barlow and Annabel Turpin, Co-Directors of Future Arts Centres and Our Freedom: Then and Now, said:
“Our Freedom: Then and Now set out to explore what freedom means today, but what emerged was something even more valuable: thousands of conversations, creative collaborations and connections between people who might otherwise never have met.
Across the UK, arts centres and libraries created spaces where people could reflect on the freedoms secured in the past while sharing their own experiences of life today. The programme showed what can happen when national resource is combined with local trust, creativity and community leadership.
We’re enormously grateful to every venue, artist, partner and participant who helped make this possible. This report is both a celebration of what was achieved and a reminder of the important role cultural spaces can play in bringing people together to listen, learn and imagine the future.”
Over the course of the programme, artists, libraries, arts centres, community groups and local partners worked together to explore themes including belonging, identity, migration, memory, mental health, public space and community life. Across the UK, people shared stories, created new work, listened to one another and, in many cases, spoke publicly about freedom for the first time.
The report highlights the importance of creating trusted spaces where people feel able to contribute their own experiences and perspectives. Through co-creation and socially engaged practice, communities helped shape projects from the outset, leading to deeper engagement, stronger relationships and lasting local connections.
The scale of participation was remarkable. More than 10,000 people took part directly in projects across the UK, helping to create exhibitions, performances, installations, publications, workshops and events. More than one million people engaged with the programme during 2025 and 2026, including audiences for 228 public-facing events and exhibitions and the national touring photography exhibition.
Another key theme emerging from the report is the power of combining national connection with local leadership. While venues across the UK were united by a shared question and common framework, each community responded in ways that reflected its own history, culture, partnerships and priorities.
Alongside documenting projects from all 60 participating venues, the report shares reflections from participants, artists, photographers and project leaders. Together, their stories reveal how creativity can support confidence, belonging, dialogue and new relationships, while helping communities explore complex ideas in open and meaningful ways.
The report also celebrates the national photography exhibition developed with Open Eye Gallery, which brought together work by 22 photographers documenting people and projects across the country. Launched at the Southbank Centre before touring nationwide, the exhibition provides a lasting visual record of a programme shaped by communities across the UK.
Ultimately, the report concludes that Our Freedom was about making space: for conversation, for imagination and for one another. Through creativity, reflection and collaboration, communities across the UK came together to explore how the freedoms of the past connect to the lives we lead today.