Art is Freedom: Returning to art after 50 years

Art is Freedom is Hestia’s annual art exhibition, featuring work created by survivors of modern slavery, delivered in collaboration with Ashurst Perkins Coie.

Create delivers painting workshops as part of Hestia’s Art is Freedom campaign, where survivors can learn and refine their skills, before submitting their favourite pieces for the exhibition.

The need for specialist, long-term support for survivors remains significant. In 2025, 23,411 potential victims of modern slavery were referred to the UK’s National Referral Mechanism, the highest annual number since the system began.

And recognition as a survivor does not necessarily mean that the challenges end. Hestia’s 2025 Underground Lives research found that 90% of survivors surveyed still had unmet needs after being formally recognised as victims of modern slavery, including needs relating to mental health, housing, employment, and legal support.

JR, 56, has been supported by Hestia since 2019. We spoke to him about returning to art after 50 years, what he created and why the experience gave him a feeling of “freedom, liberation and rebirth”.

USING ART TO EXPLORE “THIS IS ME”

For the theme ‘This is Me’, JR chose two subjects that held particular meaning for him:

“On the first day I selected two of my most loved things in the world, which was a horse and a tree.

“Because of [the theme] ‘This is Me’ I focused on myself to find my own self throughout the portraits, through what I’m doing. That’s why I selected the horse, a noble creature and noble animal that always has a free spirit, even if it’s been tamed, like captivity, for example. It’s my favourite animal. The tree represents the tree of life.”

The guidance he received during the workshops helped JR to translate those ideas into artwork that he felt represented him:

“The horse was something that represents my age and the same tree that made me feel powerful, that made me feel joyful.”

FINDING FRIENDSHIP THROUGH CREATIVITY

When asked what he enjoyed most, JR found it difficult to choose one thing:

“All of it. Meeting new people was very good.

“It was an environment that I felt I didn’t need to talk as a survivor. I don’t need to be a victim here. Everybody in this room has had a hard time, but nobody is talking about it. So that was a very, very good vibe.”

“And the people around us are giving us a safe place. They are not judging us as a person that needs support. That was not the vibe. It was the vibe of friendship. Including meeting with other people and having the facilitators, the tools around us, all of them together.”

Creating alongside other people also encouraged JR to recognise his own potential:

“Creating was the main part. You can see somebody else create art [and think], ‘okay, I can do it, there is potential for me. I can make something out of nothing.’ That’s a very, very wonderful feeling.”

HAVING THE SPACE AND TOOLS TO CREATE

Access to creativity is unfortunately not something that can be taken for granted. For JR, having materials, space and guidance available made it possible to explore something he had not had the opportunity to pursue since he was a child:

“In our life we don’t have enough opportunities or funding. Having the space, having the tools, having the people that give us instructions is very, very useful. That was exactly the reason that I think these beautiful artworks came out.”

The significance of that opportunity becomes even clearer when JR explains the last time he had tried to make art:

“When I was around five, I did want to try to draw something, and I was bullied and I was blocked. They didn’t allow me to do so, and that was it.

“So Art is Freedom was actually a very joyful thing after 50 years for me. Half a century, that’s a lot.”

THE BENEFITS OF ART FOR WELLBEING

Alongside the enjoyment of creating, JR felt the experience supported him during a challenging period in his life:

“It not only gave me hope, but I came out of the darkness after that.

“I have my own problems in life, but it was very helpful to leave everything aside and come to the exhibition. I didn’t miss a minute of the exhibition at all. That was my motivation because it gave me a therapeutic experience – much more than the therapy itself.”

CREATING TOGETHER AND SHARING WORK

The workshops included opportunities to create individually and collaboratively:

“We didn’t only do individual artworks. There was a very big artwork that [we] did and everybody drew something on it. That was a very fun part as well. It was like teamwork.”

Sharing his individual work publicly also holds meaning for JR:

“It means a lot. It gave me the feeling of a rebirth and hope and beauty. I like this to be transferred to whomever is watching it.”

“And when I see it on the display for others, I will feel more powerful. It’s like some sort of acceptance. Although I’ve accepted that I can do it myself, the public eye is looking at it, so it’s been approved or accepted.”

SEVEN YEARS OF SUPPORT FROM HESTIA

JR has been supported by Hestia since 2019. Reflecting on that relationship, he described the challenges of his asylum journey and the importance of having support along the way:

“Hestia is exactly like a mother. It supports us in this journey. It’s a very tough journey.

“Everybody knows that asylum seeking is not an easy thing at all. It’s not that when we reach here, everything is fine. My problems started after I said, ‘Please help me’. That was very hard.

“I needed the acceptance of the ‘Father’ Home Office, but Hestia helped me the same as a mother. It helped me to go through this journey with their therapy, with their outreach support workers and with any other thing that I needed. So I’m very, very grateful to them.”

JR continues to face challenges, including around housing, but spoke about how it feels to spend time among people he trusts:

“As you can see and hear from my voice, I’m very happy. Why? Because I’m in the safe place with people that I trust. The people that have supported me throughout these years and also gave me a joyful experience with the Art is Freedom exhibit.”

LOOKING FOR MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT

JR would like creativity and group activities to remain part of his life. Cost can be a barrier, but his experience has left him eager to take part again when opportunities are available.

And it is the group element that particularly matters to him:

“I insist on team activities, not individual, because of my own experience of mental health when I’m lonely. When it’s teamwork such as the activities that we had, the sound exhibition, the artworks, all of them – that gives me much more powerful help for mental health.”

After 50 years without art, JR’s return to creativity has opened up something he wants to continue:

“I’d love to do it again. Whenever I can I will go back to it.”

Create is proud to support Hestia’s annual Art is Freedom exhibition, in collaboration with Ashurst Perkins Coie. We deliver workshops that help survivors of modern slavery connect, and explore through art.

* Participant name changed to protect anonymity.