North Berwick: Exhibition in phonebox inspired by communication

The display is being showcased by pARTicipate, an arts group working under the umbrella of North Berwick Environment and Heritage Trust (NBEHT), until the end of September.

Located at the former telephone boxes on Westgate, dubbed the Kiosk Gallery, it was inspired by “communication”.

The piece depicts a range of methods of communication, such as parcels, old-style telephones and telegrams, in a 60s-inspired design.

Katie shared her happiness at being selected to show her work.

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She said: “I really appreciate the way in which pARTicipate, with support from North Berwick Trust, have brought a previously unused space back into use in such a creative and engaging way; I’m really looking forward to seeing visitors’ contributions to the installation through their stamp designs and telegram messages.”

Describing the work, pARTicipate co-ordinator Geraldine Prince commented: “This is the first time that an artist has been inspired by the little phone boxes themselves, and Katie’s contemporary visual style, inspired by 1960s Post Office adverts, recalls all the means of communication associated with the old GPO and Royal Mail – airmail letters and post boxes, telegrams, parcels, landline phone calls.

“People will see the connection immediately and it will bring delight.”

Olwyn Owen, North Berwick Environment and Heritage Trust chair, welcomed the opportunity for members of the public to design stamps and write postcards or telegram messages to add to the display.

She said: “Drawings and inscriptions first appeared spontaneously on the phone box walls in 2018, and since then swallows, doves, poppies, decorated pebbles, memorial tributes, colouring sheets and now stamp designs suggest that the community – and visitors – have made this tiny gallery their own.”