Punk masks, Walkmans and Choppers: Museum of Youth Culture to open in London | Museums
The ventilation system is working smoothly in the basement of a newly built residential block in Camden. Fans swirl around the concrete room like a chainsaw orchestra, trying to solve a slight moisture problem. “This is what it would sound like if there was a fire!” shouts Jon Swinstead, the driving force behind the Youth Culture Museum, trying to make his voice heard among the noise.
It’s hard to imagine, but in a few weeks this empty, slightly wet space will be transformed into an institution dedicated to all things young people; It’s a project that Swinstead has been working on, in one form or another, for almost 30 years.
The museum, which will open on May 15, has brought together an archive of 100,000 items that tell the story of British youth subcultures, from mods to rockers, from ravers to emos.
Around the team’s temporary workspace are giant paintings of grimy elders, slides of Gavin Watson’s work documenting skinheads and a Raleigh Chopper, which Swinstead admits is part of the collection “worth a few quid”. “We also have an original Sony Walkman,” he adds. “It has two entrances; one says ‘children’ and the other says ‘dolls’.”
They invited the British public to donate items such as a huge collection of school leaver shirts with personalized messages in felt-tip pen. Elsewhere there are personalized bags and personalized shirts dedicated to two-tone bands. It’s a bottom-up form of curation that the team feels lends itself to handcrafted cultures, grounded in the young people on the margins who create them.
“We received a donation from a guy named Steven, who went to the first punk concerts of 1976, but thought he would be kicked out of the apprenticeship if he was identified. So he bought a welding mask and wrote ‘HATE’ on it,” he says. Lisa der WeduweCommunity programmer at MoYC. “He also donated a copy of the Evening Standard and is wearing the mask to the Clash concert.”
Swinstead says the museum fills a clear gap in the UK, there is an award-winning Young V&A for children but nothing significant dedicated to the teenage years and the incredible amount of subcultures produced in the UK. “If there is for childhood, why not for young people?” asks Der Weduwe. “Most museums stop curating at age 13 or 14, which is when the exciting things happen.”
The museum began life in Swinstead’s garden shed, when he began collecting photographs reflecting the British subcultures that defined the second half of the 20th century.
The collection initially turned into PYMCA photography agency, but changed course after being approached by art graduate Jamie Brett. They both saw the cultural value in the collection and the duo I am thinking of creating a museum.
Since then they’ve staged pop-up events at the We Out Here festival, produced a show for Coventry’s City of Culture year and had a semi-permanent space on Shaftesbury Avenue in central London, but now they’re on the verge of something completely different.
The museum will double as an events space, including a Rough Trade store and youth club. With a 20-year lease and support from the City Bridge Foundation and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Swinstead hopes the museum will become an important part of the UK’s cultural landscape.
Der Weduwe and Swinstead are quick to debunk the idea that subcultures exist. is weakening Compared to the numerous tribes that emerged in the 1970s and 80s. “We can’t deny the difference, but it’s not dead,” Swinstead says. “It’s different today. I don’t think people run in groups the same way anymore.”
“If you look at the anime or K-pop scene, they have all the hallmarks of a traditional subculture,” says Der Weduwe. “There’s a style, there’s a visual identity, there’s the music; it’s definitely become more nuanced and definitely a lot more fluid.”
