Celebrating the scenes, styles and sounds forged by young people over the last 100 years, the Museum of Youth Culture returns to number 3 Carnaby St.
Launch exhibitions include a Reconstructed Teenage Bedroom installation journeying through the last five decades of youth self-expression within the confines of our own four walls; a visual feast of iconic newspaper clippings, publicly submitted photographs, records, zines and old school bedroom ephemera including a boombox.
The Rusty Pin Badge Collection showcasing a curated collection of badges from protest statements to pledging your dedication to your favourite band. phatmedia and Chelsea Louise Berlin rave flyer collections looking at the DIY design that made the physical flyer such a powerful tool to start a movement, and a group show of our most renowned Museum of Youth Culture photographers in our Basement Gallery including Gavin Watson and Peter J Walsh. Also exhibited will be the first public showing curated from the many thousands of incredible public submissions from our Grown Up In Britain campaign, shared with us during lockdown.
Combining an evocatively British product range of eco-friendly subculture, music and counterculture related books, clothing, posters and prints from independent artists, the Museum of Youth Culture plans to disrupt the ‘Museum Shop’; taking it to the centre of London’s West End and aligning with Carnaby’s world renowned music heritage. Government COVID-19 guidelines to restart culture and complement the retail offering in the form of youth culture physical exhibitions, video projections, talks and events when allowed.
The move represents an exciting call to action, a safe return to culture in physical spaces as well as providing a model for other small nonprofits to help fill empty retail units across the UK with cultural content.
Most importantly, the Museum of Youth Culture pop-up is an opportunity to thank the public for their incredible contributions to the archive by showcasing their stories in the centre of London.
Museum of Youth Culture is a new emerging museum dedicated to the styles, sounds and social movements innovated by young people over the last 100 years. Championing the impact of youth on modern society, the Museum of Youth Culture is formed from the archives of YOUTH CLUB, a non-profit Heritage & Arts Council Funded collection incorporating photographs, ephemera and educational texts from photographers, writers, contributors and the public celebrating our shared youth culture history. From the bomb-site Bicycle racers in post-war 1940s London, to the Acid House ravers of 1980s Northern England, the Museum of Youth Culture empowers the extraordinary everyday stories of growing up in Britain.
The Museum of Youth Culture Pop-Up, 3 Carnaby Street, London, W1F 9PB.
Opening Hours: Mon – Saturday 11-6pm; Sunday 12-6pm
Photos from the Museum of Youth Culture Archive.