A national art show meditating on the origins and legacy of the British Empire has opened in Angus.
The Scottish Society of Artists has selected work by 20 artists for its members’ exhibition in Montrose.
They were asked to submit proposals for artworks on the theme of empire, and the Old Rope Works in Bents Road has been transformed with preserved tea bags, botanical drawings of imported plants from China, and exhibits which explore Montrose’s whaling past.
And a site-specific sound installation, Considered Cargo, focuses on the engagement of north-east Scotland, in particular Montrose, with the slave trade.
The Wall Projects II gallery is based in the former premises of Montrose Rope & Sail, and its interior is redolent of a period of international trade in which goods were often marked “empire made”.
Curator Kim Canale said she is delighted the national body has paid its first visit to Montrose.
She said: “I have a wonderful and loyal client base in Montrose who have continued to believe in what I am trying to bring to the north east coast for the past nine years.
“However the SSA coming to my home town and wanting to work with my gallery in the amazing Old Rope Works building has galvanised a much wider audience.”
Among the artworks selected is a larger-than-life hangman’s noose, which draws attention to the more sinister uses for the rope made in the building at one time.
Miniature whale sculptures are nestled in whale bones embedded in the walls, evoking Montrose’s whaling past; an installation of porcelain vessels containing tea explores the history of trade; and paintings and prints relate to the fluctuating mass of countries which once formed the British Empire.
An SSA spokesman said the exhibition aims to reflect “contrasting views on the benefits and disadvantages of empire”.
A related event featuring writer James Robertson, who provides some dialogue for the sound installation, will take place on the evening of August 13.
Mr Robertson will read from his novel Joseph Knight and talk about the true story on which it is based, of a Jamaican slave who won a battle for freedom in the Scottish courts in 1778.
The SSA is an artist-led membership organisation governed by an elected president and council.
Its annual exhibition has taken place each year since 1897 and is held in the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.
It is committed to bringing high quality, contemporary visual art to other parts of Scotland and its first exhibition in Montrose runs until August 29.