North Berwick: Ukrainian artist's plan for new mural moving forward

Tetiana Hurn, 38, fled to East Lothian a year ago with her eight-year-old son Nikolai, initially to North Berwick before moving to Musselburgh.

The artist created the design by way of a thank you to the Scottish people for the warm welcome she received, as well as the instant connection she created with the county.

The mural will depict two “opposing forces” of movement and rest, and is designed to speak to travellers of the world.

Marking north and south in the design are two lighthouses: one is the Stevenson lighthouse on the Bass Rock and the other sits at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, where Tetiana used to live.

The image also contains two churches which she says “connect my country of origin and my new Scottish home”.

These are St Andrew Church in Kyiv to represent east, and North Berwick’s Old St Andrew Kirk as a historical representation of west.

Tetiana’s design also contains the image of a gannet, under a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson that speaks to the experience of travellers and refugees across the world.

The temporary piece will be accented by thistles and sunflowers, connecting Scotland and Ukraine in a unifying image.

The mural will be situated at the seating area on the corner of High Street and Quality Street.

The proposed mural's revised design

Tetiana received widespread community backing, including financial support from North Berwick Trust and the building owner to deliver the mural, but North Berwick Community Council (NBCC) had concerns that it would interfere with its own projection.

It was pointed out to community councillors that the projection was only visible at night and Tetiana had altered the design to make it more “accommodating” to their concerns.

In light of the changes, community councillors voted unanimously to support the mural.

Speaking to the Courier about the decision, Tetiana shared her delight that NBCC was getting behind the plan.

She said: “It was such a joyful moment for me, finally, after almost half a year of trying to explain that it was not interfering with the vibe of North Berwick.

“It was a very happy moment, I was so joyful. Kenny [Miller], the chair, said that my joy was so obvious.

“The next step is planning permission because I wanted it to be step by step and have the overall support.

“That’s why it was very important to me that the community council would hear my voice and would understand.

“It now seems like this has been achieved; the owner of the building is also very excited about the mural.

“So now we are collecting all the documents we need to submit a planning application.”

Tetiana has made some alterations to the design to make it more amenable to the community while still being able to create a statement piece.

She said: “To accommodate community council concerns about the wall that they use for their projection, I made a compromise and resized the painting slightly so it becomes lower and a bit smaller.

“But in general, it will be good to have a close-up look – it is still big enough to see the design.

“Also, Libby Morris from North Berwick in Bloom said she was excited and that they would maintain the shrubbery around the mural so it will look like a frame of the painting.”

Geraldine Prince, co-ordinator of community art project pARTicipate, shared her happiness that Tetiana’s mural had gained widespread support from the community.

She said: “It’s fantastic that NBCC is supporting Tetiana’s mural.

“For nearly a year, the artist engaged the community with her proposal.

“First North Berwick Trust agreed funding, then Tetiana approached East Lothian Council, NB Community Centre representatives, North Berwick Environment and Heritage Trust, Martin White and the RLS society, North Berwick in Bloom, Rex Homer and North Berwick Rotary, and local residents, as well as the community council.

“Varied murals have been on that wall since the 1990s but planning permissions had lapsed so the process had to start from scratch.

“It might encourage the town’s visual artists if the planners and councillors could reflect on this high degree of consultation and engagement, and consider making a ‘decision in principle’ that like-for-like replacement murals on this site could be approved by the same process of local discussion and agreement without the time-consuming, and expensive, need for new planning applications whenever murals need replacing.”