This is Not a Railing
A public art project celebrating active and sustainable travel
Idea generation
Inspired by René Magritte’s famous painting The Treachery of Images (1929), better known as This is Not a Pipe, this project uses the railings around St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral as a temporary open-air gallery and the UK’s largest bike rack.
The railings will be augmented with banners celebrating active travel and regenerative culture – partly inspired by Phoebe Anna Traquair’s Song School murals. The project also considers the direction of travel in response to recent climate change predictions.
In addition to the open-air gallery and bike rack the project will include a daytime public event celebrating active and sustainable travel and the practice of multi-species commoning.
Delivered by Jonathan Baxter and Sarah Gittins on behalf of A+E, the project includes participatory banner making workshops. For more information about the workshops please contact A+E. A full programme of workshops will be made available in January 2025.
The aim of the project is three-fold: to draw attention to the new cycle path adjacent to the Cathedral’s south lawn railings; to encourage cyclists and walkers to visit the Cathedral and its grounds (including a soon-to-be-opened community garden); to highlight the wider health and ecological benefits of active/sustainable travel in response to the climate and ecological crisis. Alongside these three aims, the project also draws attention to the Cathedral’s 2030 net zero carbon commitments.
Initial outcomes will be completed by March 31st, with a temporary installation and public event taking place in mid-to-late-March. The installation will then be reinstalled for the Cathedral’s Edinburgh Arts Festival programme in August 2025.
This is Not a Railing is supported by a Sustrans ArtRoots grant, a community fund for art projects along traffic-free National Cycle Network routes in Scotland.
A+E 
