08/05/2026
Just a few days remaining! If you're local to Hartlepool, pop along to Community Hub Central (Hartlepool Community Hubs) to see the Our Freedom: Then and Now exhibition ๐
๐ข ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ต๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป โ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บโ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ข
๐ท A powerful national photography exhibition capturing what โfreedomโ means to communities across the UK including and offering a nationwide portrait of people, place and belonging is heading to the borough.
Our Freedom: Then and Now โ which will run from Monday 20 April to Monday 11 May in Community Hub Central in York Road โ brings together images from 60 locally led creative projects around the country.
โ๐ป 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.
๐จ๐ปโ๐ฉ๐ปโ๐ฆ๐ปโ๐ฆ๐ป 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.
๐ง It creates a space to reflect on shared histories and collective memory, while highlighting the role of โcommunityโ 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.
๐ฃ๏ธ Gemma Ptak, Hartlepool Borough Councilโs Director of Housing, Communities and Growth, said: โWeโre delighted to welcome this powerful exhibition to Community Hub Central.
๐ฃ๏ธ โHartlepoolโs contribution to the project is full of pride, reflection, local identity, and partnership, and itโs fantastic to see our communities represented on the national stage.
๐ฃ๏ธ โWe hope residents will come along, explore the stories on display and feel inspired by the voices captured across the exhibition.โ
๐ฃ๏ธ Annabel Turpin and Gavin Barlow, Programme Co Directors of Our Freedom: Then and Now, said: โThis exhibition brings together voices from 60 communities across the UK, reflecting on freedom then and now.
๐ฃ๏ธ โOpening 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.โ
๐ More information about the exhibition and the full list of participating photographers is available at ourfreedom.org.uk/exhibition.
๐ฐ๏ธ 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.
Hartlepool Community Hubs
