Arts Award 2023
Freedom Festival Arts Trust is an Arts Award Supporter, meaning we can help you achieve your Arts Award qualification. Learn more...
Freedom Festival Arts Trust
Creative Participation
Teentalitarianism, 2019 - Mammalian Diving Reflex
We develop and commission programmes that embed local people in internationally significant work.
We aim to encourage and engage predominantly children and young people from hard-to-reach communities in the arts through participatory projects.
These provide memorable experiences and a chance to be a part of something extraordinary. The aim is to help foster individual wellbeing, build confidence and to create stronger, more cohesive communities.
A snapshot of our projects
Surge - Beautiful Bones 2023
A collection of cacophonous performances out on the city streets collided into a life-affirming grand finale in Queen Victoria Square, getting audiences on their feet and dancing.
The Everyman Project - Opera in a Day 2023
Workshops led by Tim and Em Whitfield Brooks, North East Opera, opera singer Sandeep Gurrapadi, designer Naomi Parker, York Dance Space and circus troupe Earthbound Misfits, culminating in a special sharing celebration at Stage @TheDock
Gorilla Circus - Unity 2023
An immersive large scale aerial circus spectacular combining acrobatics, music and spoken word with a powerful story to tell.
Via Berlin - Invisible City 2023
The Invisible City was a brand new, UK premiere of an interactive audio installation for the streets.
La Mecanica - The Little Things 2022
The show’s finale included a team of young people from East Hull, who trained with the company in the run-up to its performance.
Mammalian Diving Reflex - All the Sex I've Ever Had 2022
A celebration of life, love, romance and sex – All the Sex I’ve Ever Had is a reminder to us all that life doesn’t end once you get older.
Broken Orchestra - Westcott Primary School Climate Change Podcast 2021
Westcott Primary School hosted a Q&A with Luke Jerram and explored the ongoing climate crisis in a whole series of their lessons with their teachers, which the Broken Orchestra then edited together into a podcast.
Freedom Festival Arts Trust & WLDN - The Hull Vigil
Each participant experienced The Vigil alone and had their own unique experience, but every one shared their thoughts and feelings – which have been collated to tell the story of the performance in Hull.
Kaleider - A Portrait Without Borders 2020
For Freedom Festival 2020, we invited audience members to have their portrait drawn by Kaleider’s non-learning AI.
Mammalian Diving Reflex - Teentalitarianism 2019
Mammalian Diving Reflex returned in 2019 to offer a new participation project, this time working with teenagers, and addressed what happens when youth rule the roost.
Arun Ghosh - Ambhas 2019
Young musicians had the opportunity to perform percussion and rhythms alongside professional players, including Arun Ghosh.
L'Homme Debout - Rise 2018
RISE took an international, large-scale production and rooted it in the city of Hull, opening their creative process to almost 200 local people.
The Print Shop: Rise[up]! 2018
The Print Shop responded to our desire to engage people in the process of developing their own voice, done in this project through protest slogans.
FEASTival 2017 & 2018
This volunteer-led free feast encouraged strangers to come together to meet, talk and eat.
Southpaw Dance Company - Rush 2017
Experienced dancers and people who had never performed before came together for a performance inspired by 21st century mass protest.
Cie ATSA - While Having Soup 2017
While Having Soup welcomed members of the public to a free “three course dialogue” experience provoking philosophical conversations.
Mammalian Diving Reflex - Haircuts by Children 2017
A group of children are given a crash course in hairdressing and run a salon, offering free haircuts to the public.