‘Camulodunum’ the UK-based firstsite’s inaugural exhibition

An inaugural exhibition, entitled ‘Camulodunum’, at the new venue of the UK-based Firstsite features works by Ai Weiwei, Michaela Eichwald, Richard Hawkins, Barbara Hepworth, Sarah Lucas, Cildo Meireles, Henry Moore, Aleksandra Mir, Grayson Perry, The Neo Naturists, Karin Ruggaber, Robert Smithson, John Benjamin Stone, JMW Turner, Danh Vo, Rebecca Warren, Bill Woodrow, Andy Warhol and Subodh Gupta from India.

firstsite is a contemporary visual arts organization based in Colchester, striving to make contemporary art relevant to everyone. Its integrated program includes projects, exhibitions and publications by established and emerging artists, as well as extensive learning opportunities and artists’ support initiatives.

Over the last fifteen years or so, the institution has gained a strong reputation by presenting ambitious work with a belief that contemporary art offers fresh perspectives on contemporary life. firstsite is continually looking for ways to encourage dialogues between artists and audiences. The grand civic opening of its spectacular new building has just taken place.

firstsite’s inaugural exhibition takes its title from Colchester’s ancient name, Camulodunum, meaning ‘fortress of the war god’. The town’s heritage as a centre of power for the ancient king Cunobelin (mythologised as William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline) and the principal city of Roman Britain, is the starting point for an exhibition of contemporary art that considers how history is recovered, represented and reenacted.

'Camulodunum' draws directly on themes embedded in firstsite’s new architecture. Located in a town where modern buildings neighbour monuments to antiquity, the firstsite building is designed to stand on ancient land without disturbing the remains of the unexcavated Roman buildings beneath.

New works commissioned from international contemporary artists Michaela Eichwald, Aleksandra Mir, Karin Ruggaber and Danh Vo are presented with loans from major public collections and objects from the town’s important archaeological holdings. Camulodunum explores themes of excavation, ritual and reenactment, gathering anecdotes from literature, popular culture and local legend.

The exhibition considers how artworks negotiate their relationship to artifacts in the museum, the notion of objects as a source of information and the idea of contemporary culture as future historical record.