A small town in Aberdeenshire has become one of the most unlikely arts centres in the UK.

Huntly's buildings, shops and public spaces have become gallery walls for more than 50 unusual works of art.

The town also has its own logo and a song composed by Mike Scott of The Waterboys.

The happenings – which have included residents cycling en masse trailing chalk, performing in choirs, photographing themselves, and measuring their Scottishness – are the work of Deveron Arts, led by Claudia Zeiske.

And the project's artist in residence, Ethiopian Mihret Kebede, 37, has even convinced Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie, the winner of two Olympic gold medals for the 10,000m, to take part.

Slow Marathon is inspired by the 5850 miles between Ms Kebede's home in Addis Ababa and Huntly.

She will accumulate the distance by asking 225 people to each traverse the marathon distance of 26 miles in Scotland and Ethiopia – and one of them is Gebrselassie himself, who will also donate his shoe laces, a material often used in the artist's work.

All the other participants will exchange shoe laces.