Photo: Jayne Lloyd
Firstsite
NPOA flagship contemporary art venue with a national reputation and a deep commitment to artists from the East of England.
Firstsite is among the foremost contemporary art galleries in the East of England and one of Colchester's major cultural destinations. Established in 1994 and, since 2011, housed in an award-winning crescent-shaped building by architect Rafael Viñoly, it stages ambitious exhibitions by artists ranging from the internationally celebrated to the emerging. Its programme has included figures such as Grayson Perry and Lubaina Himid, yet the gallery is just as dedicated to supporting artists from Essex and across the wider region. With no permanent collection to maintain, Firstsite concentrates on changing exhibitions, commissions, film and community work. In 2021 it took the Art Fund Museum of the Year award, the UK's most prestigious museum prize.
Exhibitions & events
On now
Duncan Grant: Worlds Through Desire - From Drawing to Cruising to DMs
Ending 8 Nov 2026
Simon Carter: From the Landscape
Ending 17 Jan 2027
One of the year's MUST-SEE exhibitions This exhibition is undoubtedly a watershed for one of the most popular, established and best-known artists in the East of England. The main exhibition hall of Firstsite is being rebuilt to reflect the psychogeography of Carter's love affair with Essex's estuarine environment, the most significant, recurring subject in his oeuvre. And this will be a huge solo exhibition -- one part retrospective, one part painted specifically for this exhibition.
Against the Tide: Polly Braden and Lisa Bachelor
Ending 28 Feb 2027
Past
Exhibition Tour with Simon Carter: From the Landscape
10 Oct 2026
Arpita Shah: Nalini
13 Jun 2026 - 4 Oct 2026
Rewilding Imagination Labs: Attending to the Liminal
10 Sep 2026
Godfried Donkor: It’s a Numbers Game
23 May 2026 - 30 Aug 2026
Rewilding Imagination Labs: Disrupted Rhythms
13 Aug 2026
Ekow Eshun and Godfried Donkor: In Conversation
16 Jul 2026
