carnaby street pop-up
3 Carnaby Street
Summer 2021
The Museum of Youth Culture takes over 3 Carnaby Street with two new exhibitions Autumn 2021.
Celebrating London and the UK's reopening, the pop-up Museum focuses on the things that bring us together. Upstairs, A Nationwide Photo Album celebrates the upcoming Grown up in Britain book through photographs and ephemera submitted by the general public.
In our basement gallery we celebrate the energetic, diverse, and at times wonderfully chaotic city that we call our home. Delving into the Museum's collections, we have pulled together 70 years of London living through the work of key photographers in the archive.
london moves
As London emerges from the cultural scarcity, anxiety and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, London Moves is a photographic antidote; a reopening of the styles, scenes & movements that have and continue to be forged in this energetic, diverse, and at times wonderfully chaotic city.
Curated by Debbie Sears ARPS, London Moves journeys from youth club discos of the 1960s right up to the spirited live streamed club nights of the post-pandemic world in 2021. Featuring a selection of key photographers from the Museum of Youth Culture archives, the exhibition showcases the breadth of the Museum’s collections.
carnaby archive
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. We'll be transforming this retail unit into a pop-up gallery and shop celebrating the incredible stories we've received over lockdown!
Delve into a Reconstructed Teenage Bedroom installation, journeying through the last 5 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 rave flyer collection looking at the DIY design that made the physical flyer such a powerful tool to start a movement, and a group show of the photographers that sit at the heart of our collections in our Basement Gallery.
On show 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.
We'd love for you to get involved! We'll be regularly changing the photographs and stories on show; share your images with us for our Grown up in Britain campaign for a chance to be shown at the Carnaby Street pop-up.
a way of life
The freedom to express ourselves is at the core of youth culture, laying the foundations for the scenes, styles and music genres that young people have so freely and expressively created for themselves over the last 100 years.
'A Way of Life' champions some of the Museum of Youth Culture's most esteemed photographers, those who collectively form the backbone of the museum collections and inform the very nature of what we do.
From playtime to partying 'A Way of Life' shows us a freer type of existence, a way of living that's led by our love of fun, music, fashion and togetherness, unhindered by the humdrum of responsibility or oppression. it's a call to action for youth culture to rise up in a post pandemic world.
'A Way of Life' is curated by Debbie Sears ARPS
events archive
Thursday May 27th: Aiyush Pachnanda Rave to the Grave Launch and Talk
Moving to Cardiff for University, Aiyush documented the local Drum n Bass scene over the three years he was there - documented in his new book Rave to the Grave. Aiyush will be doing a talk about his work and the project, and signing copies of the book.
Thursday June 3rd: Ellie Ramsden and Shay D: Too Many Man, Women in Grime
Starting as a personal project in 2017, photographer Ellie Ramsden's project Too Many Man is a documentation of the women in the UK Grime scene, from the MCs and DJs, to producers and journalist. She will be in conversation with Rap Artist, DJ and Youth Mentor Shay D about the contemporary Grime scene and women's role within it. Pick up a copy of Ellie Ramsden's second edition of Too Many Man: Women of Grime, or bring yours along to be signed.
Thursday June 10th: Gavin Watson and Evelyn Kutschera Photographer Talk
Making his name photographing his brother Neville and their group of friends in High Wycombe, Gavin went on to document the Punk, Skinhead and Rave scene, and now working as a fashion photographer. Gavin will be discussing his career, spanning four decades and five photo books.
Ahead of Gavin's talk, Swiss-based photographer Evelyn Kutschera will be talking about her project documenting the contemporary skinhead scene. She'll be in conversation with the Museum of Youth Culture's Creative Projects Lead Jamie Brett.
Evelyn Kutschera: 6.30 - 7.00pm
Gavin Watson: 7.00 - 8.00pm
Tuesday June 15th: Teenage Bedrooms with Sian Lincoln
To celebrate the Reconstructed Teenage Bedroom exhibition, Museum staffer Lisa will be talking to youth cultures expert Sian Lincoln about the social and cultural significance of bedrooms to young people.
Sian Lincoln has published widely on aspects of youth cultures, namely teenage “private” spaces such as bedrooms and social media. Sian’s book on teenage bedrooms, Youth Culture & Private Space (Palgrave Macmillan), was published in 2012 and her book Growing up on Facebook (with Brady Robards, Peter Lang) in 2020.
Sian is a founding member of the Subcultures Network.
This is an online event which will be live stream to the Museum of Youth Culture Facebook Channel.
Wednesday June 16th: Tony Davis Rave 1991
From his first music love in the Northern Soul scene, Tony worked his way through post-punk and eventually the Rave scene, taking his camera along to all-nighters. He will be talking about his UK Rave 1991 work, recently published by Cafe Royal Books. From sweaty underground clubs to free parties and the service stations in between, delve into the 90s Rave scene.
Thursday June 17th: Normski Photographer Talk
A true music legend, Normski has photographed the stage as well as stood on it as a DJ and musician. He will be talking about his journey through the Music scene, from humble beginnings working in a Music store to the UK Hip Hop scene and Electronic Music.
Rave Flyer collector PhatMedia (Dave) will be sitting down with the Museum's Creative Projects Manager Jamie to discuss all things Rave. Using his incredible collection of over 25,000 flyers as a starting point, they'll be journeying from flyer through to club night.
Photographer Adrian Fisk will be delving into his archive documenting the 90s Environmental Protest Movement, which is the focus of his upcoming photobook Until the Last Oak Falls. From the Anti-Road Protests to Reclaim the Streets, these movements echo the contemporary youth-led Climate Protests.
Photographer Adrian Fisk will be delving into his archive documenting the 90s Environmental Protest Movement, which is the focus of his upcoming photobook Until the Last Oak Falls. From the Anti-Road Protests to Reclaim the Streets, these movements echo the contemporary youth-led Climate Protests.