SUBCULTURE

The Museum of Youth Culture
Announces Their
Biggest Exhibition Yet

July 2022
Photos courtesy of the Museum of Youth Culture
Words by Sean Kerrigan

The organisation celebrates 100 years of British youth subculture with its biggest exhibition yet at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry.

The Museum of Youth Culture has done a sterling job in recent years of showcasing 100 years of British youth subculture, with pop-up spaces in London.

But now, the organisation is set for their biggest exhibition yet with Grown Up in Britain: 100 Years of Teenage Kicks. Taking place at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry, the exhibition brings together photographs from the likes of Normski, Gavin Watson and Ken Russel, which chart British youth subcultures from punk to hip hop, rave to rock across the decades.

Plus, nostalgic images from family albums across the country and objects including a Royal Enfield Constellation motorcycle, a ZX Spectrum console and a Chopper bicycle.

Photo by Clare Muller
Photo by Clare Muller

Open now and running until 12th February, 2023, the free exhibition precedes the Museum of Youth Culture opening a permanent space in Digbeth, Birmingham in 2025.

“Coventry is one of the youngest cities in the UK,” says Ruark Jon-Stevens, Marketing and Communications Manager at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. “And we are excited to see how visitors react to this celebratory show documenting teenage life.”

Photo by Peter J Walsh
Photo by Peter J Walsh

And the Museum of Youth Culture is still after your photographs and cultural ephemera to continue to build and improve their collection.

“During the lockdown we encouraged the public to delve through shoeboxes, lofts and picture albums to radically diversify our collection,” says Lisa Der Weduwe, Archive Projects Manager at the Museum of Youth Culture.

“We received an incredible 6,000 photographs and objects and the exhibition is both a celebration and thank you to all who have sent in their stories. We encourage as many people as possible to continue to submit their photographs and memories so they can be preserved and enjoyed in the future.”

To find out more visit museumofyouthculture.com

 

Photo by Neil Massey
Photo by Neil Massey
Photo by Peter Bull
Photo by Peter Bull
Photo by Lucy McCarthy
Photo by Lucy McCarthy
Photo by Tommy Sussex
Photo by Tommy Sussex