A Tenth Anniversary Commission was established by The Milton Keynes Rose Trust, supported by The Parks Trust and made possible by grant funding from Milton Keynes City Council. Artist and Producer Jakub Rokita was commissioned to revisit and celebrate the iconic Milton Keynes work of Public Art designed by Gordon Young (2011), to create a central gathering space for Milton Keynes. Jakub’s task was to reflect the journey of the Milton Keynes Rose from concept to its use today.
From June 2024 to June 2025, Jakub undertook a multi-strand project exploring how the Rose has been used, remembered and reinterpreted over time. The resulting works now form a collective portrait of the Rose as a living monument – one shaped not only by design and stone, but by the people who gather around it.
Outputs of the project include:
● A poetic audiowalk, featuring original sound design and the voices of artists, civic contributors, and residents, designed to be experienced on site or listened to remotely;
● A video version of the audiowalk, with subtitles, accessible online and suitable for screening at public events;
● A new anniversary publication, documenting the Rose’s story through photographs, community reflections, and archival material;
● An edited reissue of Gordon Young’s original design publication, with updated imagery and contextual notes;
● An exhibition of banners and archival materials, first presented as a one-day pop-up at MK Gallery and later hosted for six months by Milton Keynes Central Library;
● A read-along digital edition of the audiowalk transcript, interwoven with publication text for online readers;
● New contributions to Living Archive MK, ensuring long-term preservation of voices, visuals, and reflections gathered through the project.
These works mark the culmination of a year of creative research, listening, and design, celebrating the Rose as more than a commemorative site – as a civic space for gathering, expression, remembrance, and renewal.
As the Rose continues to grow – with new pillars still being added – these creative outputs offer a moment to reflect on what has been built, what has been remembered, and what is still to come.