Submit your ‘freedom’ image for community artwork - part 1
The public is being invited to submit images representing their thoughts on freedom to a major public artwork, which will be unveiled this autumn in Lincoln.
The digital artwork, Our Freedom: Then and Now, will be made up of more than 5,000 community-contributed images to commemorate 80 years since the end of the Second World War.
Funded through Arts Council England the large-scale digital mosaic, printed on aluminium to reflect Lincolnshire’s aviation heritage, will be animated with soundscapes, light and projection. The work has been commissioned as one of 80 new public artworks across the UK, exploring the theme of freedom - then and now.
Community volunteers helped shaped the project at every stage including the artistic brief and the selection of digital artist Alan Levy to create a blend of voices, stories and symbolism from across Lincolnshire.
There’s still time for people to submit an image that represents their own idea of freedom, online at NowAndThenFreedom.com and an in-person drop-in on Friday, October 17 at Lincoln Arts Centre.
To inspire people to take part Hello Lincoln is featuring the thoughts of some of the people who have helped form the artwork and their thoughts on freedom.
Dr Dan Ellinthe archivist for the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive has been instrumental in supporting the Our Freedom: Then and Now Project.
“I have worked on the IBCC Digital Archive since 2015. Since then, the archive has published over 40,000 items about RAF Bomber Command, including letters, diaries, logbooks and photographs. https://ibccdigitalarchive.omeka.net/
Many items tell stories previously unheard outside the owners’families.
“Freedom was an important concept during the Second World War. Tremendous sacrifices were made for it. Men and women from over 50 nations came to the UK and served and died for freedom as part of RAF Bomber Command.
The strength of The Lincolnshire Mosaic of Freedom project is that it makes us stop and think about what we take for granted today.
“Where it goes unnoticed, that’s where it exists.
“Defining freedom is hard until you begin to lose it, and at such times it is helpful to find people with shared experiences. Reading the archive’s prisoner of war letters and diaries helped me during the 2020 lockdowns, for example.
“Freedom for me today is a meal with friends and family, an open road or a good book, with no looming deadline.
“Community engagement is very much at the heart of the Lincoln project. Unusually, this has involved volunteer participation at every stage of the process.
“Here’s what motivated one of the volunteers to step up and get involved.”
Volunteer, Patricia Ruff, was keen to ensure children and young people had the opportunity to be involved asking: “What does freedom mean to you?”
Patricia explained: “For me it’s such a pertinent question in today’s world, and one I think everyone can respond to.
“As a volunteer I wanted to champion the views of children and young people who bring great insight when tackling big issues.
“I have a passion for the arts and its importance at every level for everyone! I had no idea about the process of commissioning an artist and was in awe of how such a project could be achieved within a relatively short time. And wanted to be part of making it happen.”