Colchester's latest major art exhibition opened at The Minories yesterday, showcasing original works by the world-famous street artist Banksy. Titled *Out of Line: Banksy and the Art of Dissent*, the show features 28 authentic original works and artist-certified prints, all loaned by Brandler Galleries. The headline event for collectors and fans is the global debut of a brand-new Banksy piece, *Rat with Drill*, unveiled alongside works exploring protest, politics and social commentary. Essex County News and the Colchester Gazette both covered the opening day, which drew families, visitors and even the town crier Rennie Chilvers to the High Street gallery.

Brand-new Banksy works rarely surface anywhere, let alone in a regional gallery on Colchester High Street rather than a London or New York institution. The show's curators gave the debut extra theatre by extending the exhibition into the gallery's garden, where multi-tonne concrete walls bearing Banksy's *Hula Hoop Girl* and *Sandcastle Boy* were installed — actual street walls moved indoors, as the newspapers' photo captions describe.

According to the Essex County News coverage, the multi-tonne concrete walls displaying *Hula Hoop Girl* and *Sandcastle Boy* anchor the garden extension, while inside the gallery visitors met the debut piece *Rat with Drill* — a classic Banksy motif, the rat, given a fresh twist. The report notes works exploring protest, politics and social commentary throughout, and the opening-day photographs show the team behind the show, including Emma Howe from The Minories, alongside visitors like the Maycey family. The Colchester Gazette's account of the same opening matches these details piece for piece.

The exhibition is billed by both papers as a major cultural addition to Colchester, bringing internationally recognised street art to the heart of the city. For readers of the street-art scene, the show positions a market town gallery as a venue capable of handling authentic, artist-certified Banksy originals, a notable signal for how and where such works are exhibited.

*Out of Line: Banksy and the Art of Dissent* runs at The Minories on Colchester High Street until Sunday, February 28, 2027, giving the debut of *Rat with Drill* a months-long public life rather than a single weekend unveiling. The exhibition is open from 10am to 4pm, with adult tickets starting at £12.50 and concessions from £7, according to the Essex County News and the Colchester Gazette. For anyone tracking new Banksy material, the coming months now include a rare window to examine a fresh piece in person before the show closes in late February 2027.