Friday August 21st 2026
Jason and the Coal Mining Adventure at the National Mining Museum
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
National Mining Museum Scotland has burst into colour as an extraordinary new exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist Jason Wilsher-Mills MBE officially opens today.
Guests gathered at the museum yesterday evening for a special preview of Jason and the Coal Mining Adventure, a vibrant and immersive exhibition bringing together monumental inflatable sculptures, intricate artwork, digital media and larger-than-life characters to tell stories of mining heritage in a completely unexpected way.
The exhibition opens to the public tomorrow, Friday 21 August, and runs until Saturday 24 October 2026 in the museum’s Special Exhibition Gallery.
Guests at yesterday’s event also enjoyed a fantastic 30-minute performance from local singing group Little Voices Big Stars, adding to the celebratory atmosphere of the evening.
Raised in a Yorkshire mining community as the son of a coal miner, Jason Wilsher-Mills draws on his own remarkable life, childhood memories, family history and experience of disability to create work that is joyful, humorous and colourful, while exploring deeper stories of identity, resilience, belonging and working-class life.
Miners meet mythical heroes, fantastical creatures rub shoulders with family members and childhood memories collide with folklore, comic books and popular culture in an exhibition where there is always something unexpected waiting around the corner.
Artist Jason Wilsher-Mills MBE and Curator at National Mining Museum Scotland Ray Lafferty
At its heart is Wish You Were Here, a spectacular tapestry standing almost three metres high and inspired by historic miners’ union banners.
Rather than depicting famous figures from mining history, Jason places his own parents, Irene and Peter, centre stage. His father worked underground as a miner, while his mother became the heart of a family of eight children and Jason’s fiercest advocate after illness left him paralysed at the age of eleven.
Surrounded by family memories, mining references, mythical creatures and vivid imagery, the tapestry transforms the story of one family into a celebration of the love, humour, sacrifice and resilience found within mining communities across Britain.
Jason explained:
“I am incredibly honoured to be showing my new work at such a wonderful and prestigious venue as National Mining Museum Scotland, which represents the industrial heritage and culture of coal mining. This is something I really identify with, being a Yorkshireman and proud member of a family with strong links to the coal mining industry.
“My work reflects working-class culture, humour and disability, which I hope visitors will enjoy.
“My new tapestry shows two working-class people, who are not gods or royalty, but their story is all the more powerful because their struggle and love are real. It happened. And I hope those seeing the work will recognise some of the narratives which are so closely aligned to the mining community.
“I choose to make the best art I can for such audiences because, as the great socialist Aneurin Bevan said, ‘Only the best for the working class’.”
Little Voices Big Stars performing at the preview event
Alongside Wish You Were Here, visitors will encounter some of Jason’s wonderfully unexpected creations, including Golden Argonaut, Corby Head, Rhubarb Totem, Jason and his Argonauts, The Green Man and the fantastical Cloud Sheep.
Bold, playful and packed with hidden details, the works invite visitors to look closer. Beneath the bright colours and humour are stories of disability, family, friendship, industrial heritage and the people and places that have shaped Jason’s life.
The exhibition forms part of a major 18-month national project led by Wilsher-Mills and supported by the largest Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant awarded to an individual artist. The wider project includes exhibitions at the National Coal Mining Museum for England and Kent Mining Museum, with elements also being displayed at the People’s History Museum in Manchester.
National Mining Museum Scotland has also received funding from Creative Scotland to support the presentation of the exhibition in Scotland, helping to bring this ambitious and accessible contemporary art experience to audiences at the museum and across Scotland.
For National Mining Museum Scotland, the exhibition offers an exciting opportunity to tell the story of mining from a completely different perspective. Although Jason’s own story begins in Yorkshire, the themes of family, work, solidarity, humour, memory and place have strong connections with Scotland’s former coalfield communities.
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