Firstsite is 10!

Colchester Pageant posters (1909) courtesy Colchester and Ipswich Museums. Photo by Andy Keate.

‘Camulodunum’ was the first ever exhibition in our new building. The title came from Colchester’s original name, when it was established as a Roman legionary fortress!

Looking back on our town’s rich heritage as the first city of Britain, the exhibition was inspired by our place within a town where modern buildings neighbour monuments to antiquity.

Agnes Denes ‘Work 1967-2013’ (2013). Photo by Douglas Atfield.

We hosted a retrospective exhibition of Hungarian-American artist Agnes Denes. From incredibly detailed drawings to a huge wheat field grown in the middle of New York, featured artworks spanning a 46-year period addressed a range of concerns and influences – including science, philosophy, linguistics, mathematics and sexual politics.

Bruce Mclean ‘Sculpture, Painting, Photography, Film’ (2014). Photo by Andy Keate.

Our exhibition of Scottish artist Bruce McLean’s artworks entitled ‘Sculpture, Painting, Photography, Film’ was spread across our entire building. It featured artworks of a range of media created over the course of 50 years, exploring his rebellious approach to what an artwork should be and how it should be displayed.

Artist Rooms ‘Andy Warhol’ (2016) Photo by Andy Keate.

‘Artist Rooms: Andy Warhol’ exhibition presented artworks from across the artist’s 40 year career, including large silkscreen paintings, early ink drawings, self-portraits and his screen test series. Our building was also brought to life by designer Camille Walala’s bold and colourful geometric patterns, and Colchester-born Hattie Stewart’s ‘doodle-bombed’ magazine covers.

Grayson Perry ‘The Life of Julie Cope’ (2017). Photo by Alice Constance.

‘Grayson Perry: The Life of Julie Cope’ was a unique presentation of tapestries, woodcuts, ceramics and tiles designed by the Turner Prize-winning artist, Grayson Perry, for ‘A House for Essex’ (2015) – a building designed by the artist in collaboration with FAT Architecture. Overflowing with cultural and architectural detail, it explored social histories of Essex and modern Britain.

Holiday Fun Canteen. Photo by Aura Films.

2017 was also the year we launched our Holiday Fun programme, providing free meals and activities for families who require extra support during the school holidays.

Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere (2018) Photo by Katie Francis.

Our exhibition ‘Courage Calls To Courage Everywhere’ documented the creation of Turner Prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing’s statue of Suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett, situated in Parliament Square, London. The title of the exhibition came from Millicent Fawcett’s response to the death of suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, knocked down by the King’s horse at the Epsom Derby in 1913.

‘Super Black’, An Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme Exhibition, Firstsite (2019). Photo by Maddie Pierce.

We launched our first ever Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme exhibition, ‘Super Black’ – led by people from Essex’s black community. It featured artworks from the Arts Council Collection which the group felt gave an expression of what it means to be black in England today, alongside artworks by Southend-based artist and activist, Elsa James, and objects from the Vanley Burke Archive.

‘My name is not Refugee’, An Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme Exhibition, (2020) Photo by Jayne Lloyd.

Our fourth Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme Exhibition showcased artworks chosen by a group of refugees and asylum seekers living in Colchester. Clients of Refugee Action, Colchester, worked together with the organisation’s staff and the Firstsite team to select artworks that explored ideas and stories that were meaningful to them. When we had to close due to UK lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we brought the exhibition into people’s homes through an online 3D walkthrough which can still be experienced here.