Ex Punks in the city are being asked to share their stories ahead of a New Punk Exhibition in Leicester.
Punk: Rage & Revolution is a response to calls from Leicester Punks to create an exhibition about the Punk scene following the success of the Mods: Shaping a Generation. The popular exhibition took Leicester by storm in 2019 with 30,000 visitors from across the country and beyond, celebrating the stylish 1960s Mod youth subculture and generating £1.7 million for the local economy.
The Punk exhibition will enable young people across the city to explore this iconic and irreverent youth subculture by meeting Punks that were part of the scene. The project will lead up to a major summer exhibition at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery and Soft Touch Arts between May-September 2023 telling the story of the local Punk scene through the eyes of those that were there. It will involve 120 young people from Soft Touch Arts comparing and contrasting similarities and differences in music, fashion, art and the DIY culture associated with Punk. Political and social issues and the role women played in Punk and movements such as Rock Against Racism will also be featured.
A group of young curators will work alongside the project research and design team to pull together an exhibition which will feature loans of clothing and ephemera from former Leicester Punks and museum collections, including a selection of clothing from Roger K Burton’s Contemporary Wardrobe. Exhibited alongside the original outfits will be contemporary ‘Punk now’ exhibits created by young people from disadvantaged backgrounds recruited and supported by Soft Touch and the project team.
To tie in with the exhibition, local venues and organisations will be invited to take part in a Punk Weekender, similar to the successful 2019 ‘ReVive Festival’ that linked to the Mods Shaping a Generation exhibition. The festival will include films, music, fashion and talks and will take place in venues and outdoor spaces across Leicester city centre.
The East Midlands Oral History Archive and Museum of Youth Culture will use the recordings of Leicester Punks sharing their memories and other content created during the project for their records.
The project team are keen to hear from people that would like to share their memories and stories of being Leicester Punks. If you are interested, Please email Christina Wigmore – [email protected]
