COLCHESTER.- Firstsite in Colchester is poised to reopen as the schools close for summer (Friday 24 July) and promises a packed programme of art and culture to help everyone to reflect, refresh and reconnect.

The doors open at 10am, with a raft of new measures in place to provide visitors with a calm, secure and comfortable visit. Visitors do not have to book tickets to attend, but numbers will be carefully managed throughout the day to maintain 2-metre physical distancing, along with a one-way path throughout. Hand sanitiser stations have been installed at key points in the building.

For added health, security and peace of mind for visitors and staff, Firstsite has also installed Perspex screens at locations such as the Welcome Desk and shop till, and staff will wear PPE in food preparation areas and where social distancing is difficult to maintain. Only cashless payments will now be accepted. The wearing of face coverings will be encouraged upon entering the building and will be required in the Firstsite shop.
Firstsite’s programme, café and shop have been carefully adapted to create a calming space, full of artworks and experiences which inspire contemplation and provide a place where people can come together in a socially distanced way, to relax and be inspired.




Exhibitions
Firstsite announced that it will be hosting a number of brand-new and extended exhibitions, which explore themes of well-being, connection, creativity and community:

Colchester and Ipswich Art Societies: Borders: brings together landscape pieces from over 120 local artists, depicting their mutual border, the River Stour. Through painting, print, sculpture and textile, the exhibition as a whole reflects the lure of the river as a subject. Hung geographically to mirror the flow of the river, visitors are encouraged to take a trip downstream, to encounter expressions of the river and the landscape and life that surrounds it. It’s a trip that celebrates the thriving creativity of the region, the joy of making and the enjoyment and well-being gained through experiencing art.
Afro Futures_UK: Unravelling New Futures reopens on 24 July. It explores how black experience, technology and historical narratives can inspire new ways of thinking and help us imagine new collective futures.

Key pieces include Irene Fubara Manuel’s video Dreams of Disguise (2018), Tabita Rezaire’s short film, Deep Down Tidal (2017) and Sun.REI’s kinetic sculpture Liberation Gates (2018).

Sonia Coode-Adams: Lockdown Garden opens on 24 July and features tranquil watercolour landscapes of the garden at Feeringbury Manor, created by the artist during the imposed lockdown. Whilst shielding, Sonia Coode-Adams took the opportunity to return to painting after a hiatus of many years, and through this series of artworks she celebrates the garden and explores the soothing influence of nature as the landscape transitions from spring to summer.

Tell me the story of all these things which was due to open in late March prior to lockdown, opens for the first time on Friday 24 July, running until 11 October. It brings artworks by some of Britain’s most celebrated artists, including Turner Prize nominees Tracey Emin and Cornelia Parker and Turner Prize-winner Gillian Wearing CBE, to Colchester in this new exhibition presented by Firstsite and the Arts Council Collection.

This exhibition is the third in Firstsite’s series of National Partners Programme exhibitions, and continues the Essex gallery’s collaborative curatorial process of creating exhibitions with members of local communities to reflect the lives and issues faced by local people from all sections of society. For Tell me the story of all these things, civic leaders, community organisers, artists, designers, politicians, mothers and Colchester business owners worked with Firstsite to present this remarkable examination of emotion and soft power in our society and how they can be used positively to connect, empower and build resilience. Many pieces such as Cornelia Parker’s Neither From Nor Towards, (1992) and Evan Ifekoya’s Ritual Without Belief (2018) hold meditative qualities, encouraging visitors to pause, reflect and explore their own stories as they experience this exhibition.