The Rediscovering the Antonine Wall project has created new attractions including replica distance stones, Roman themed play parks, sculptures and exciting new murals. Project funders include the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland, and other local authority partners.
For the Antonine Wall Mural project, Recoat was commissioned to create five murals and work with local groups or schools to inspire the designs. Each mural has been designed and painted by a different artist.
All pictures by C. Tennant
West Dunbartonshire, Melfort Park, Clydebank
About the Artist
Born in 1977, Kirsty Whiten is an artist based in Fife and is known for her intricate figurative drawings, paintings and instantly recognisable street art. After graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 1999, she lived in Paris and Edinburgh before building a house and studios in Fife. Whiten’s work has been exhibited internationally, including solo shows with Stolenspace in London, the Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop and Arusha Gallery in Edinburgh. Kirsty usually makes detailed watercolours and large, brightly coloured oil paintings on canvas. She works with human figures, stories and psychology
About the Mural
“I designed this piece using a list of the vegetables, fruits and flowers that are known to have been grown and foraged by Romans living along the Antonine wall. I wanted the mural to connect the community garden in the park, and the Romans who were growing and eating food right here, all those years ago. This mural celebrates the wholesome joy of cooking food from the veg patch and foraged plants. As part of my research, The Rediscovering the Antonine Wall Project showed me a Roman recipe for Wild Boar Stew! I included a beautiful African brasier pot found at the Bearsden Fort site (which would be perfect for the stew) and a close-up view of someone bringing produce to cook and make medicine with, including wild turnip, wild radish, horse bean pods, marigolds and opium poppies. On the left-hand side, there is a laurel wreath framing the Roman goddess of the harvest, Ceres (hopefully she will look out for the community garden), and on the right-hand side, a panel from a Roman distance stone of the Second Legion, found at Summerston Farm near Balmuildy Fort. It shows a Capricorn (a goat with a fish tail), the emblem of the Second Legion.” (Kirsty Whiten)
Glasgow – Lambhill Stables
About the Artist
Ade Adesina, born in Nigeria in 1980, is an Artist living and working in Aberdeen, Scotland. Ade studied printmaking at Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and graduated in 2012. He is a Royal Scottish Academician and an Associate member of The Royal Society of Painters and Printmakers. Ade has undertaken Artist in Residences at Eton College, Highland Print Studio, Glasgow Print Studio, and Gray‘s School of Art.
About the Mural
“All the objects and artefacts shown in this design were found locally and were crafted by people who lived next to the Antonine Wall in Roman times. The Romans that lived here were inventors, artists and engineers. The aim of this mural is to highlight this and keep alive the history and beauty of the past. Included is the sculpture of a goddess’ head, text and imagery from the local Distance Stone, a wine carrier and an oil lamp. Historians have found evidence of flowers used in medicines, cooking and for decoration. Corn Marigolds and Corncockle are featured in this mural to connect the mural to the present day community garden.” (Ade Adesina)
East Dunbartonshire – Kirkintilloch
About the Artist
Fraser Gray is a Scottish contemporary artist based in Edinburgh. He makes site-specific artworks that are more often than not produced in the great outdoors. Over the past 15 years he has worked with communities to help positively transform their spaces and places.
Along the way he has picked up a First class degree in Fine Art from Duncan of Jordanstone (2008), and a MFA in Contemporary Art Practice from Edinburgh College of Art (2013). Recent commissions include a permanent mural for the Summerhall Courtyard that celebrates the exciting unpredictability of the Edinburgh Festivals, ‘The Awakening’ in the Spittal of Glenshee – a 9000m2 temporary land art piece for the Cateran Ecomuseum to coincide with COP26 and the ‘Tay Road Bridge installation’ – a long running commission to transform the once dreary site under the bridge into a new positive, safe feeling civic space. He has been lucky enough to have exhibited his studio work at such places as the Travelling Gallery, National Galleries of Scotland, The Royal Scottish Academy, The Lighthouse, The Fleming Collection London and The Suttie Art Space. Fraser has had his work featured in The Times, The Scotsman, BBC World Service, The List and The Skinny.
About the Mural
“This mural depicts surviving objects relating to the history of the Antonine Wall.
In this unusual still life arrangement, the artefacts (all chosen as they were unearthed fairly close to the site) have been arranged in front of the wall into a dramatically lit museumesque scene. The objects are the stars here – literally painted on plinths and pedestals and offered for our attention. Through its composition the mural references the ways in which we choose to view and consume our histories.” (Fraser Gray)
North Lanarkshire – Auchinstarry Marina
About the Artist
KMG is a Scottish based artist who has been creating character based artwork for over a decade. Reflecting her curious nature, KMG’s work explores and confronts themes that range from the mundane to the precarious and is often of a subversive nature. Characters are used as a means of connecting with the viewer and engaging them in dialogue. A combination of youthful enthusiasm, tempered with a healthy smattering of defiance, imbues her work with a sarcastic and raw tone, whilst remaining playful and often raising a comforting smile.
About the Mural
“I designed this mural taking inspiration from Vibia Pacata, one of the few recorded women to have lived on the Antonine Wall. The wife of a commanding officer, she travelled through the Roman Empire, using stars to navigate. She left her mark with
an altar stone, dedicated to Silvanus, Roman god of the woods and to the goddess’ of the crossroads. She’s painted wearing a clay mask artefact found nearby the mural site along with a coin purse also featured within the design. Leaves and flower petals
are added to represent her connection with Silvanus” (KMG)
Falkirk – Douglas Park, Bo’ness
About the Artists
Recoat, founded in 2007 by Amy Whiten and Alistair Wyllie is an arts organisation that specialises in contemporary urban art, bringing artists, funding and ideas together to create socially engaged public art projects that they hope inspire, challenge and delight. They’ve worked on local, national and international mural projects, artist exchanges, exhibitions and education programmes with the British Council, the BBC, The Commonwealth Games, Creative Scotland and Amnesty International.
About the Mural
“Working with the young people at Bo’ness Academy we learned about the people who lived on the Antonine Wall through the objects that have been found locally. We made drawings of clothing, tools, weaponry and games before cutting stencils and using spray paint to create paintings of these objects together. We were amazed at the ingenuity and diversity of the people who lived on the Wall and what rich and cultured lives they led in such a different time from our own. We wanted to communicate this by depicting these objects in our mural and celebrating the artworks created by local young people by using vibrant colours. Within the mural you can see sandals and the marks these studded shoes would have made as the soldiers marched, the decorative emblem from their shields, a spear, a cooking pot and text taken from carvings on altars and sculptures.” (Amy Whiten and Alistair Wyllie)
