Our Freedom boat launched at Lighthouse

Selected as one of 60 arts centres and libraries to take part in Our Freedom: Then and Now, an exploration of what Freedom means in the context of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, Lighthouse commissioned a small team of artists led by Heidi Steller to create a response that would incorporate creative contributions from a series of community workshops.

Launched on Friday ahead of Remembrance Day, the strikingly beautiful Our Freedom boat is moored in the main foyer at Lighthouse. The outer shell provides a framework on which artwork can be hung, posted or woven, with a smaller decorated boat inside.

“The question of what freedom means to any individual feels deeply personal, with no single or simple answer, so I began to think about how we might create a vessel to carry these personal ideas and emotions gathered from our communities,” Heidi explains.

“One theme that stood out was the connection between freedom and safety – that to feel truly free, we may first need to feel safe. With this in mind, our boat took on the form of a nest – or perhaps a cocoon – a space designed to hold, to shelter, and to protect. Within this larger form rests a smaller boat, found and carried along the way. It represents care, connection, and the act of holding space for others.

“Together, they symbolise a place where all the ideas and emotions expressed by our community groups can be safely held – gently, hopefully, and with respect.”

More than 20 workshops were held in communities across Dorset, from Poole and Hamworthy, to Bournemouth, Bovington and Wimborne, where participants created a range of responses that included drawings, textiles and crafts, as well as written words, and sounds.

“We have some beautiful poems from the Young Writers group at Lighthouse,” adds Heidi, “and in one group they were talking about creating little shells that they could roll things up and put things in.

“So, there’s the idea that they’re like treasures that might be found or just noticed within the structure of the boat that we’ve created and hopefully people will just spend a little bit of time noticing these gentle little thoughts and ideas.”

The boat is now on display in the foyer at Lighthouse where it can be seen up close as well as through the main windows.

“The job of a lighthouse is to guide the vessel, and I feel that’s what we’ve been able to do with this quietly magnificent Our Freedom boat,” says Martha Earley, Creative Engagement Manager at Lighthouse.

“Now we can provide safe harbour for it so that people can some and see it, interact with it and, we hope, respond to it in their own way.”

One of the very first reactions to the boat came from an older man who saw the boat through the window while still in construction at Lighthouse, says Heidi.

“And he came in to chat to me and was asking about it and I told him about the connection to VE Day and he said, ‘Well, of course, I was there.’ We spoke about how to represent that time and he told me to keep it simple – he said things were really simple then and they had to be for everyone to feel peaceful.

“That really resonated with me, so I wrote that quote on the boat. I want to try and make a way where people can leave their responses as well so they can be added to while the boat is there.”

The Our Freedom boat installation can be seen at Lighthouse until the end of December.

Our Freedom: Then and Now, is part of a £2 million national creative programme marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Supported by the UK Government through Arts Council England, the Future Arts Centres and Libraries Connected initiative 60 arts centres and libraries across Britain present community-led projects exploring the legacy of VE Day and VJ Day.

(NC)