Launch on Saturday the 27 February 2010 from 5pm onwards
Exhibition open from 27 February - 27 March 2010
firstsite
4 - 6 Short Wyre Street
Colchester
CO1 1LN
Colchester Inn is a project about hosting and welcoming in Colchester. On completion Colchester Inn will exist as an independent, pavilion like structure, designed through a collaborative process with local groups. It will provide a new meeting and hosting space outside firstsite's new building and will be available to be used by the general public. Each component of the space will be designed and developed in collaboration with a different local group around their specific customs of hosting and welcoming.
public works were commissioned by firstsite to develop a long-term collaborative project working with new and existing community groups. The Knot Curtain is the first result of this process and the first physical component of Colchester Inn. It is the result of a year-long collaboration between public works and participants from the Colchester Chinese Culture Society (CCCS). The Knot Curtain will be on display in firstsite's Project Space throughout March 2010.
The Knot Curtain is derived from the rich history of Chinese
decorative knot-making. The group developed a modular curtain made
of layered acrylic shape; these shapes have been drawn from
specific Chinese as well as local seafaring knots. Each module
doubles as a photo frame, inspired by the Chinese tradition of
showing photos to visiting guests. The frames can be used
singularly or joined together to produce The Knot Curtain.
The full process of developing the frame has been recorded on the
project's website: http://www.colchesterinn.net.
Over the next couple of years public works will continue working with a variety of groups and individuals to explore how they host others and to collaboratively create the Colchester Inn.