Submit your ‘freedom’ image for community artwork - part 2
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.
Community Volunteer: Haydn Beeken
I have always believed in the value of our young people in Lincolnshire and my responsibility to them by adding what little I can to their future.
I find that now, more than ever, we need to find new ways to engage with them and help them understand the past and the effect it has on the 'now'.
We have lived through the Covid period and have moved into uncertain economic and political times. We need to engage our young people to enable them to understand that there are always ways forward, that their role in the future is important and that they can deliver on that through involving themselves, communicating with each other and being bold and confident.
This need also applies to the young adults and the communities that they belong to.
When I first read about the project I thought it would offer that opportunity if delivered in the right way, and I am pleased to say that feeling has been justified.
Community Volunteer: Alastair.J.Mainland
I joined the Freedom Then And Now project partly through curiosity, but a great deal of my life has involved brushes in different ways with the concept of freedom. As a result it’s something I'm rather passionate about.
The strongest link I have from my family, is my Grandpa Paterson, a Royal Naval Gunner who fought in The Battle Of The Atlantic.
Without a doubt the freedoms we often take for granted today were what he was defending.
As an admirer of Robert Burns, and as a Scots Highlander I am also well aware of some of the ghastly shadows from our past that affected my area and inspired much of what
Burns mentions, particularly in songs such as "Charlie Is My Darling," where fancy rules the singer untill the last verse, which mentions the sobering consequences of his presence.
It’s up yon heathery mountain and doon yon scroggy glen,
We daur na go a milking for Charlie and his men.
From other angles, the freedom to love whom we chose and just simply be who we are, is often whipped and skewed into stereotypes and peoples biased assumptions.
One of my greatest heroes I have studied on this matter is the fascinating tale of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, a most remarkable but unsung hero of the 19th century.
Indeed, our freedom to know of his fate has only just been released and many conclusions people may have jumped to have been smashed due to further scrutiny and deep exploration.
The character who arises out from years of state propaganda and secrecy is so contrary to what many assume.
In more recent times, it’s the freedom to contribute to society though limited in capacity that worries me more.
Many people have much to offer but bureaucracy and protocol seem to scupper many people’s chances.
Due to my own experiences, I sincerely hope our local community shall chose a politics of inclusion and welcome, over that of chaos and division or Burns’ satire about running with seductive fancy, then being met by a slap of reality may be heading our way.
I'm pretty certain we may just cling to those freedoms my grandpa was fighting for and keep them sacred for our future generations. It is a sacred baton we must pass with care.