A COMMUNITY-led arts project exploring freedom, creativity and connection will culminate in a final celebration at Exeter Library this weekend.

Our Freedom: Then and Now is part of a nationwide programme marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, led by Future Arts Centres (FAC) in partnership with Libraries Connected and supported by Arts Council England.

Libraries Unlimited, the charity responsible for libraries in Devon, is one of 60 arts centres and libraries across the UK taking part.

Working in collaboration with artist Athena Jane Churchill, Libraries Unlimited has delivered a series of creative workshops and exhibitions.

The workshops and exhibitions invited residents, artists, veterans and underrepresented voices to explore what freedom means in modern life.

The community artworks will be brought together for one final showcase in Exeter.

In Barnstaple, participants explored the idea of freedom through creativity and wellbeing.

Art sessions with the Memory Café and the Flying Fish Art Group, alongside drop-in family workshops, have transformed the library’s central atrium into a visual display of flowers and flying birds.

At Newton Abbot Library, the project has connected generations and community groups through collaborative art-making.

Creative sessions with Wolborough Primary School, Newton Abbot’s Place Museum, and local art and wellbeing groups have produced metres of vibrant, hand-painted, drawn and knitted bunting.

In Exeter, the focus has been on the city’s story of regeneration and resilience following the devastation of the Second World War.

Ukrainian families and local residents have come together to create mural panels and a large mixed-media installation inspired by a phoenix rising from the ashes – a symbol of renewal and hope.

All three installations will be brought together in a final combined artwork, unveiled at Exeter Library on Saturday, November 8 to coincide with Remembrance weekend.

The exhibition will remain on display until Saturday, December 6 in the library’s foyer.

Alex Kittow, CEO of Libraries Unlimited, said: ‘As we mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War, this project has encouraged us to look at freedom not just as something to remember, but something to value and nurture today.

‘Libraries have always been spaces of freedom – free to enter, free to learn, free to create.

‘Through this project, we’ve seen how creativity can build connection and understanding across generations and communities.

‘Bringing the final artworks together for Remembrance Weekend in Exeter feels like a fitting tribute to the past, and a hopeful expression of community and creativity for the future’.

For more information about the project visit Our Freedom: Then & Now – Libraries Unlimited