onionbagblog

Forget the politics - fancy a first look around @firstsite? The new visual arts facility in Colchester finally opens its doors this weekend. I was fortunate enough to be invited in for a sneak preview on Wednesday to witness the wonders that can be found within.

What strikes you first is the sheer size. Was there really a poxy and pokey old dump of a car park occupying this very same patch of land? firstsite is an artistic tardis; *some* may cast the town’s outspoken MP at the bogey cyberman.

It may not quite be a golden renaissance of Roman architecture for Britain’s Oldest Recorded Town [geddin there!] but firstsite is certainly going to be accompanying the Water Tower in becoming one of the landmarks of Colchester. There isn’t too many of those recognisable symbols on the horizon around CO1 - reason enough to celebrate the success of bringing the ambitious project to our region.

Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly is responsible for the design. From the outside the sweeping curves remind you of an old Roman amphitheatre. The exterior space genuinely opens up the run of land from the top of East Hill, Queens Street and down as far as the back of St Botolph’s.

Colchester has gained a new playground.

There has been much sniggering concerning the Cultural Quarter tag, but Rome wasn’t built in a day, Comrades. What firstsite will hopefully achieve is to attract locals and visitors alike to the lure of the golden goose, and then introduce them to the fringe activities at The Minories, the creatives operating out of 15 Queen Street, the pop up space at the Hidden Kiosks etc.

The need for a visual arts facility in Colchester has been questioned by some. The Minories - magnificent though it is - has long since outgrown any purpose for profiling leading artists. It can now hopefully become a place for reflection, such as was the case with the recent Denis Wirth-Miller retrospective.

The challenge of course is how to attract the public to what is by definition, a very public art facility. firstsite is the last of the great National Lottery hurrahs. Colchester was lucky to get the golden centrepiece just ahead of the credit crunch.

Detractors argue that it is a waste of the public purse – possibly with a valid point. But the funding was ring-fenced for the East of England, and so Colchester’s gain has to be at the loss of Cambridge, Peterborough and Southend. No sleep lost there.

The cost has been controversial - £18m spiralling up to £28m. The contractors simply couldn’t handle the ambitious curve of Viñoly’s sweeping architectural statement. If a job’s worth doing, etc. You should see what a state the Colosseum is currently in.

firstsite may *or may not* have been the downfall of the contemporary art loving Conservatives (cripes) in Colchester. Oh the irony of the local LibDems publishing and damning the half-finished shell in their election literature, and now celebrating the great golden goose back at the Town Hall. At least Saint Bob is true to his word as a doubter.

As for the future? With mixed media temporary art exhibits visiting our town, I can’t see Brian Sewell making a visit to Sunny Colch sometime soon: “Colchester is neither New York or Rome” remarked a recent Observer review of the building - and for that we must count our blessings.

But this all leaves firstsite with the challenge of how to attract international contemporary artists to a town that is struggling to compete with Chelmsford and Southend to even achieve city status.

Maybe the challenge is that there is no challenge to be won and lost? Celebrate firstsite for what it is - a stunning statement on the hyperlocal Colchester landscape. It can be many different things to many different people, both in Colchester and out in the wider arts world. What would you rather have there? The brutalist architecture, squalor and general seediness that characterised the old bus station?

Like any contemporary modern building, firstsite will take some time to find its feet. There is no difference between the U’s getting bedded down in the Weston Homes Community Stadium, and art lovers learning to like firstsite.

We’re all performers, dahhhling…

And so congratulations to Kath Wood and the team for having stuck with the project, particularly when being an artist in Colchester was considered something of a dirty name.

Unless you are rolling around naked in body paint and creating some sixth form artistic faux pax on the walls of our new golden wonder, now is the time to celebrate all that is artistic in modern Camulodunum.

firstsite opens to the public on 25th September. Head for the old bus station and then look out for the golden Essex bling. You’ll be amazed, believe me.

Disclaimer: I occasionally take paid employment from firstsite, editing audio content for the website. So there, Saint Bob.