Celebrate the culmination of North Tyneside Libraries’ River to Freedom community led project with a performance from a pop-up choir and poems and writing inspired by ‘what freedom means to me’. The artwork created by community groups and project artist Amy Langdown will be on display for the first time and there’ll be the opportunity … Continued
Our Freedom: Then and Now is a nationwide creative initiative rooted in local voices. Marking 80 years since VE/VJ Day, the programme will inspire 60 new artistic works that explore what ‘freedom’ means to individuals and communities across the UK today. Led by Future Arts Centres, the project brings together 60 arts centres and libraries … Continued
In collaboration with artist Amy Langdown, community groups in Battle Hill, Wallsend, and North Shields Libraries have worked to create a visual representation of what freedom means to them through producing lino cuts. A banner created using their artwork has been commissioned which will be displayed in Wallsend Library with replications of the banner on … Continued
The Stories of Our Freedom: Stockton Rising showcases original work co-created by local participants from ARC’s regular creative engagement classes, refugees and asylum seekers who now call Stockton home, and their award-winning associate company of learning disabled theatre makers, Full Circle. The exhibition documents the creative process behind Our Freedom: Stockton Rising, a special live … Continued
Join ARC Stockton for a live event like no other – where community, creativity, and courage collide. Our Freedom: Stockton Rising showcases original work co-created by a wide range of professional artists with local participants from ARC’s regular creative engagement classes, refugees and asylum seekers who now call Stockton home, and their award-winning associate company … Continued
Join this storytelling session on Remembrance Sunday with the archivist of the Kings Own Scottish Borderers Museum and Archive, and hear about the fascinating untold stories and personal histories of those that lived through World War II through the lens of freedom.
Explore your creative freedom and be inspired by the exhibition of work by Berwick Youth Project in this fun, artist-led workshop for families exploring colour and light. All materials provided.
Our Freedom is an exhibition of photography and artwork by Berwick Youth Project exploring themes of freedom which form the research and development for a new commissioned artwork installation for The Maltings by artist April Key.
‘Stories can be healing. If we’re drowning in chaotic thoughts of our own, to step inside someone else’s head, just for a while, is a kind of freedom.’ – Ann Cleeves Join the award-winning, best selling author of Vera, Shetland, and Two Rivers, who will discuss her latest book The Killing Stones and share why … Continued
Discover Queen’s Hall Arts’ Our Freedom: Then and Now project through a powerful new AR experience created by local artist Emma Tominey. Inspired by Simon Armitage’s poem Freedom Road, this project puts community voices at its heart. Working with veterans, cadets, and active service members, participants have explored what freedom means – then, now, and … Continued
Queen’s Hall Arts have created a project which puts community voices at the heart, working with veterans, cadets, and active service members from RAF Spadeadam to explore what freedom means to them. They invite you to be part of an exciting launch event celebrating Queen’s Hall Arts’ Our Freedom: Then and Now project with a … Continued
On the 80th Anniversary of VE & VJ Day, take a look at the community-led artistic projects which have been running in Hartlepool from May – November. Each project evolved from the same starting point of what freedom in the context of the Second World War meant to its participants, then and now, inspired by … Continued
Past meets present – a day for all ages! Join a fun-filled celebration at Heugh Battery Museum to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Washington Open Exhibition shines a spotlight on the talented artists living and working in the region. Taking inspiration from Arts Centre Washington’s involvement in the UK-wide programme Our Freedom: Then and Now, an open call invited applicants to creatively respond to the theme, reflecting what freedom means to local people and their communities, and you’re … Continued
Roll up, roll up! As part of the national programme Our Freedom: Then and Now, Arts Centre Washington proudly presents Unbound: Our Freedom Cabaret, a cabaret spectacular where curiosity takes centre stage, ideas spark, creativity bursts into life, and the very idea of freedom is thrown into the spotlight. Four extraordinary creative hubs from the Arts … Continued
Head along to Seaton Carew Community Hub for an evening with best-selling North East author, Nancy Revell. Nancy is a storyteller with a heart full of her family’s shipbuilding legacy, and The Shipyard Girls series, made up of twelve remarkable novels, has already captured the imaginations of readers everywhere. A Secret in the Family is … Continued
The Customs House presents Our Freedom on Saturday 9 August in South Shields’ Mill Dam area – a moving, community-led event honouring South Tyneside veterans and remembering VE/VJ Day. Created by artists Rob Anderson and Andrew Dawson, this outdoor performance will feature professional actors sharing true local stories through movement and spoken word. Inspired by … Continued
Doing dishes and dodging doodlebugs… what was everyday life like for women of World War Two? In Housewife At War, the two Lucys journey back to the forties to discover what their grandmothers were up to, from home-baking and tea-making, to war work in uniform. This fascinating new presentation from History Wardrobe – which combines … Continued
Our flagship performance has grown! GCT’s annual platform showcasing new work by people with learning disabilities and autism is this year part of a national project. This performance piece uses dance, physical theatre and song to celebrate this journey of freedom, to honour its past heritage then and celebrate where we are now, informed by … Continued
Gosforth Civic Theatre’s flagship performance has grown! This year, their annual platform showcasing new work by people with learning disabilities and autism is part of Our Freedom: Then and Now. Reflecting on what freedom means 80 years after the end of the Second World War. GCT has responded with a show featuring over 60 performers, … Continued
North Tyneside Community Hubs and Libraries is inviting local people of all ages and backgrounds to join them in creating a powerful community-based project. The River to Freedom will use the long history of the River Tyne as a starting point to explore and capture ideas of freedom, and this collaborative project will produce a … Continued
Exploring what the end of the Second World War meant then, especially to the people of Berwick, and what freedom and community means to us now, The Maltings will create ways for young people who are part of the Berwick Youth Project to reflect and be creative together, helping to shape artistic responses to explore … Continued
Working closely with local museums including Hartlepool’s Heugh Battery Museum, The Local and Family History Centre, and Hartlepool Art Gallery to ensure that the ideas developed are distinctive to the town, Hartlepool Community Hubs/Libraries will lead on a project to capture meaningful insight about the past and present, that highlights the challenges and achievements which have … Continued
80 years ago, Gosforth Central Hall was opened as a place for all the community to gather. It was built as a memorial to “remember the brave people of our town, who gave their lives whilst serving in Her Majesties Forces and the Merchant Navy in the 1939–1945 war”. It has grown and moved since … Continued
Our Freedom Then and Now was an ambitious and heartfelt community arts project led by Alnwick Playhouse in partnership with My Life Productions. Created to mark 80 years since liberation at the end of the Second World War, the project brought together storytelling, music, visual art, live performance, and shared cultural traditions in a vibrant, … Continued
Our Freedom: Stockton Rising was a powerful live event reflecting on what freedom means to the people of Stockton, 80 years after the end of the Second World War. Taking place on Remembrance Day, the event brought together original work co-created by local participants from ARC’s regular creative engagement classes, refugees and asylum seekers who now … Continued
Our Freedom: Then and Now was a UK‑wide, locally led arts and creative programme that produced new work reflecting on what ‘Our Freedom’ meant to local people and their communities, following the 80th anniversary of VE/VJ Day in 2025. Queen’s Hall Arts worked with the community linked to RAF Spadeadam, a military base on the … Continued
Arts Centre Washington – Unbound: Our Freedom Unbound: Our Freedom Cabaret was a bold and evocative exploration of what freedom meant to different people—personally, politically, emotionally, and collectively. Presented at Arts Centre Washington, the project brought together storytelling, music, theatre, film, soundscape and visual art in an unforgettable evening that many audience members described as … Continued
Our Freedom was a co-created project led by The Customs House in South Shields, created to mark the 80th anniversary of VE and VJ Day. Rooted in local history and personal memory, the project honoured South Tyneside’s veteran community and the vital role local people played during the Second World War. The project began in … Continued