Mariana Castillo Deball: Roman Rubbish – London Mithraeum

A commission at the London Mithraeum’s Bloomberg SPACE sees artist Mariana Castillo Deball responding to the often discarded, lost or unwanted objects that become archaeological finds. Roman Rubbish, in other words.

A Return To The Mithraeum

It has been quite a while since I visited London’s Mithraeum. I walked past on a Roman London walk in 2021 and peered at an exhibition I couldn’t get in to see. But before that, I hadn’t been to the Mithraeum since 2017. I really should go more often, because it’s free. But I don’t get into the City of London as often as I used to when I lived in Wapping. Plus there are so many things in London to see!

I spoke previously about how the London Mithraeum is an interesting sort of Corporate Social Responsibility case study. It’s an assumption on my part, but I imagine that Bloomberg, who own the building above the Mithraeum, see it as a community good to have returned it more or less to its original position and created a free-to-access space around it with interpretation, archaeological finds and contemporary art. Their own website tells us they have set out to create a cultural hub. There are probably tax breaks or something in it and it adds a pedigree to their European headquarters, but you can’t deny they have done it to a high standard and have a unique offering in their blend of ancient history and contemporary artistic commissions.

The aim of these artistic commission is to “showcase the best in contemporary art whilst bringing fresh perspectives to the history of this unique site.” Let us see how Mariana Castillo Deball has fared against this ambition.

Mariana Castillo Deball: Roman Rubbish

On this occasion I was mainly here to see the temporary exhibition, Mariana Castillo Deball: Roman Rubbish. I was intrigued to see what an artistic take on ancient rubbish would look like, to be honest. Plenty of artists have turned detritus and found objects into art, I guess, but what does a Roman version look like?

The artist who has taken on this challenge is Mariana Castillo Deball. Born in Mexico in 1975, Deball now lives and works in Berlin. To create this exhibition, she took inspiration from the thousands of artefacts excavated from the Mithraeum site during the construction of the Bloomberg Building from 2012-2014. There are three elements: towering pillars of ceramics, a textile curtain with objects tucked into pockets, and a wax wall with inscriptions.

Creating oversized versions of the artefacts places a new value on things once discarded by their original owners. I would have liked to see a bit more connection back to the originals, however. See some of the pieces that inspired Deball’s works. There is a video on the Bloomberg Connects App (you can also see it here) which tells you more, but it surely wouldn’t have been that difficult to set it up on a monitor within the exhibition space. Maybe throw in a small vitrine with an artefact or two. Having said that, there’s a whole wall of excavated artefacts at one side of the exhibition space so it’s possible I’m being unreasonably demanding. May be best to go and see for yourself!

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Mariana Castillo Deball: Roman Rubbish on until 8 January 2023

Down To The Mithraeum Itself

Well, since I was there anyway, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to head down to see the Mithraeum, now could I? If you time it right you can visit quite quickly. The archaeological side of the exhibition is made up of the wall of artefacts I mentioned, a downstairs holding room with information on the Mithraeum, and the Mithraeum itself. The latter is an audio-visual experience. You stand around the edge of the temple space and hear voices in Latin. Lights define the space and the Cult of Mithras’s ceremony builds up to a crescendo, after which the lights come up and you have time to explore before the next group comes in.

For any visitors or City workers with time to kill on their lunchbreak, the London Mithraeum has stood the test of time and gets another ringing endorsement from me five years on. It’s informative, a good multi-sensory experience, and most of all free. You can book tickets in advance here, or take your chances on the day.