MORE than 700 people raced to attend the controversial Citizen Spire exhibition at Fire Station Creative within three days of it’s opening.

The proposal to build a £10 million, 300-feet national monument in West Fife was met by public criticism when the Press broke the story last month.

Ian Moir, curator at Fire Station Creative and the artist behind the structure dedicated to the themes of citizenship, gave a speech outlining the motives behind the proposal at the exhibition’s opening last Thursday evening.

He said: “There is always diversity of opinion, race, religion, social class and so on. But there is one thing that binds us all together in this country, and that thing is liberty, freedom of expression.

"Lately, I’ve given much consideration to the word, citizenship, and tried to figure out what core responsibilities might be upon us. 

“It’s only my opinion, but I think it comes down to three things. We have to imagine a better future. The good news is, the imagination is free. It costs nothing. But you need a venue to express it, to explore it, to collect its fruit.

“Together, we need always to be building a better future. We cannot afford to stagnate, rest on our past achievements. A national venue, dedicated to our citizenship, concentrates the collective mind.

“Once we’ve built a better future and met the vision, we must protect it. To do so, you must be educated, focused and engaged. Online discussion has its place, no question, but there’s nothing quite like talking, listening or protesting to an actual, live human being. 

“Let’s build a venue where we can learn how to explore and defend the complexity of a life in the free world. Citizen Spire will herald our intentions to other nations. It will let them see that we are all aiming, as William Blake put it, our ‘arrows of desire’ at a united, stronger, freer and fairer society.”

Guests were treated to a reading by Kelty poet Ross Wilson and the performance of a song by Gifford Lind, chair of Dunfermline Folk Club, with both pieces written especially for the occasion.

Professor Richard Demarco, arts impresario, said of the idea and work on display: “These paintings are beautiful. This spire concept is fantastic. It’s the future for Fife. It must happen.”

The exhibition is free and open to the public until Sunday, April 2. 
Feedback is also encouraged by writing to ian@firestationcreative.co.uk