With the contractors working right up to the wire, their machinery removing the fences and the mountain of earth from Newlyn Green almost at the eleventh hour, following two days of celebration, of gatherings of the great and the good in the art world, of speeches, congratulations and thanks to all concerned, when the buzz word was fantastic, it was the end result of some six years of hoping and planning by Newlyn Art Gallery's council of management, not to mention close on £4m investment.

It goes without saying that countless people were involved in the project throughout those years. But there is no doubting the fact that it owes its eventual successful outcome to the vision of one person in particular - Elizabeth Knowles, the former director of Newlyn Art Gallery, the unsung heroine of the hour.

Without her energy and faith in the enterprise, it would not have happened. Modest about her achievement and with reluctance, at the end of the first public speech and the utterance of the first "fantastic", she summed it up, saying: "I must admit, there were times when I thought it would never happen. But it has, and it's wonderful."

The impact these two "fantastic" and "wonderful" buildings will make upon the area, of course, has yet to be realised. Rather like Tate St Ives the buildings themselves are likely to be a major attraction for a while.

Although the slate-hung, extension to Newlyn Art Gallery, for instance, may seem independent of and have little in keeping with the original main gallery and has already been dubbed the "goldfish bowl" by local people, it certainly has a "fantastic and wonderful" unbeatable view of Mount's Bay, while Peter Freeman's lighting sculpture which covers the exterior of The Exchange not only transforms a building which was previously a blot on the landscape into something almost attractive but also makes Princes Street the best illuminated street in the town. Then, too, each building has a cafe and shop. And, unlike Tate St Ives, admission is free to each of them.

Such enticements are exciting and extremely welcome but, when the novelty wears off, the success of these two galleries will depend on what they have to offer to the public. The declared "ongoing vision for the new galleries" is that of bringing "the best in regional, national and international contemporary art to audiences in the South West". For their inaugural exhibition the galleries are hosting the multi-site exhibition "Social Systems" curated and delivered by ProjectBase.

With her installation and video in Newlyn Art Gallery, Scottish artist Christine Borland who, over a three-year period, has worked in residency at the Peninsula Medical School at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, explores the subject of "practice". From stethoscopes to the chance to try your hand at stitching a wound in an arm or leg, she gives the place the look of a set for Casualty or Holby City, while in The Exchange Moroccan-born Hassan Hajjaj presents a chill-out zone amidst a mini Morrison's or Tesco stocked with groceries carrying Moroccan labels. And Eloisa Cartonera, an artists' collective from Argentina, with a Buenos Aires wall built from almost as many cardboard boxes as there were people at the opening, presents a workshop which emphasises the importance of something as simple and seemingly commonplace as cardboard in a country with acute socio-economic problems.

While the audience participation and the international aspects of these three commissions, especially the books of stories written by authors from Argentina, Brazil and Cornwall (members of Scavel an Gow) translated by Mercedes Kemp and Paul Farmer, and bound in recycled cardboard and decorated by Eloisa Cartonera, inside the two new galleries are laudable, in the event the competition outside is fierce and they struggle to match the external attractions offered by the galleries - the superb sea views from Newlyn Art Gallery's new education room and the fascination of Peter Freeman's light installation at The Exchange.

Dr Virginia Button, curator of Christine Borland's work in Newlyn Art Gallery, is leading a walk and talk round the exhibition at 2.30pm on July 23. Dr Alan Bleakley, Reader in Clinical Education at the Peninsula Medical School, will discuss themes by the same artist, at 2.30pm on August 20. And there are workshops for families, exploring ideas and processes, presented by Christine Borland, Hassan Hajjaj and members of the artists' collective from 2pm to 3.30pm on August 2, 16 and 23.

The exhibitions by Hassan Hajjaj and the artists' collective can be seen, admission free, in The Exchange, Penzance, 10am-5pm Monday-Saturday, and 11am-4pm Sunday, until September 2, while Christine Borland's exhibition can be seen in Newlyn Art Gallery at the same times until September 16.

article copyright THE CORNISHMAN 

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