Picturing Leith
Picturing Leith is a public art project led by LeithLate in consultation with the local community, talking about the past, present and future of the Leith History Mural.
Unveiled in 1986 by Artists Collective, the Leith History Mural is a well-loved local artwork located on the gable end of a tenement next to Leith Library and Leith Theatre. Originally titled ‘Into the Future with a Strong Community’, it features scenes inspired by the stories of a local reminiscence group, which were realised by artists Tim Chalk and Paul Grime. After almost 40 years of exposure to the Scottish elements, the mural has deteriorated badly, with some areas lost entirely.
The mural has been a feature of the LeithLate mural tours for years now, and we’ve all seen its deterioration first-hand. Anyone with even a passing interest in art will have seen murals come and go in Leith, sometimes disappearing overnight without warning. Our 2020 collaborations with Double Take Projections (Light Up Leith History Mural) included fascinating conversations with the original artists and the local community, making it clear that something needed to be done before the mural was lost.
Picturing Leith was co-produced by Cameron Foster and Jessie Lindsay, and combined online and in-person questionnaires and conversations to better understand what this particular mural means to people who live and work in Leith, and also spark a wider discussion around the future of public art in Leith. The project took around six months and contained six central elements:
an online questionnaire
a paper questionnaire and stall set out at the Kirkgate, the Shore, and in front of the mural
sessions with local community groups and interviews with local people
a series of mural tours
an exhibition at Leith Library
a ‘Town Hall’ event at Leith Theatre.
We asked people what they would like to see happen to the Leith History Mural, and for their thoughts, ideas, or stories. Details and photos of the various events appear further down the page, but let’s skip to the results! On the mural question, five options were available to choose from:
Leave it as it is
Repaint the mural in its original design
Conserve the best bits and add new scenes to the mural
Completely repaint the mural in a new design
Other (please state)
412 people responded to the questionnaire or responded to the mural question as part of the Town Hall event. 355 people responded in person and 57 responded online. A small number of people chose two options as they weren’t sure- we included both, taking the total number of answers to 436.
As you might imagine, opinions were split on what (if anything) to do about the mural’s current state, but most participants wanted to conserve the best bits and add new scenes to the mural. This can be seen in the final chart of responses below:
In numbers, that’s:
20 for Leave it as it is
155 for Repaint the mural in its original design
226 for Conserve the best bits and add new scenes to the mural
22 for Completely repaint the mural in a new design
13 for Other (please state below)
The vast majority (92% of answers) don’t want to leave the mural as it is, to further deteriorate. This is hardly surprising, but this data provides a strong evidence base on which to apply for funding to make something happen. This is likely to involve some restoration of the mural along with further consultation about any proposed additions or changes to the original piece.
Before we get to some images from the project, a thank you to our funders:
Thanks to £eith Chooses and City of Edinburgh Council for supporting ‘Picturing Leith’.
This project has been supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. This fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.
Selected materials from the Picturing Leith Exhibition - Leith Library - November 2022 to January 2023
The Town Hall - Thomas Morton Hall - 28th January 2023
Photography by Léa Luiz De Oliveira
