The Our Freedom programme has continued to spark national interest, with two major arts publications – Arts Professional and Aesthetica Magazine – recently exploring the project’s themes, impact and creative approach.
Together, these pieces highlight the breadth of the programme’s reach across the UK and the growing conversation around what freedom means today.
Exploring Everyday Freedom in Arts Professional
In Arts Professional, Our Freedom Co-Directors Annabel Turpin and Gavin Barlow reflect on what a year of conversations across 60 communities has revealed about how people understand freedom today. Rather than an abstract ideal, the article shows freedom emerging as something lived and negotiated daily – shaped by access to public space, trust, safety, belonging and the ability to imagine a future.
The piece also highlights the collaborative scale of the programme, created with 40 arts centres and 20 libraries, and the power of creative activity to open up conversations that weren’t happening anywhere else. It reinforces a central belief at the heart of Our Freedom: that arts centres act as vital civic spaces where people can gather, be heard and make meaning together.
Read the full article: What does freedom mean today? – Arts Professional
Aesthetica Highlights the Power of Collective Storytelling
Aesthetica Magazine’s feature, Defining Freedom, offers an in-depth conversation with curator Liz Wewiora about the making of the exhibition Our Freedom: Then and Now, developed by Future Arts Centres and Open Eye Gallery.
The article explores:
· how 22 photographers worked with communities across the UK
· the curatorial process behind bringing together such a diverse body of work
· the ways participants reflected on freedom in 1945 compared to today
· the importance of socially engaged practice in amplifying under-represented voices
A particularly resonant conclusion from the piece reflects the heart of the programme:
“The project demonstrates the diversity of ways people can find freedom in creativity, self-expression and resilience. The exhibition reflects a nation of people who are fighting to ensure voices are heard – whether they are from our past, from those lost, or for the generations to come.”
This sentiment captures the spirit of Our Freedom: a collective effort to understand how freedom is lived, remembered and imagined across generations and communities.
Read more: Aesthetica Magazine – Defining Freedom
A Growing National Conversation
These two articles, each approaching the programme from a different angle, underline the national relevance of Our Freedom. Whether through critical reflection on the meaning of freedom today, or through a deep dive into the collaborative process behind the exhibition, both pieces show how the programme is resonating across the arts sector.
As Our Freedom continues to unfold across the country, this coverage highlights the importance of creative expression in shaping how we understand our shared histories and futures.