When you are young, the world looks like a Ferris wheel.
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It’s a line from a 2007 song by the indie band Bright Eyes, but it’s also true. Youth is this dizzying, almost magical period of life, suspended above a still unknown reality, swollen by the whirlwind of adolescent hormones and boundless optimism.
It is the crossroads between who we are and who we are becoming, an endless corridor filled with open doors.
In other words, it is the most formative time of our existence.
And yet, it is only now, for the very first time, that a museum is dedicated to him.
The Museum of Youth Culture officially opens its doors today, in what is arguably the mecca of London’s subcultures: Camden.
The idea came from Jon Swinstead, archivist of British youth culture, whose dream of creating a permanent museum took a quarter of a century – and many passionate collaborators – to become a reality.
The objective has remained the same: to celebrate young people, the way they have shaped history and continue to influence our future.
“It’s a totally neglected part of heritage and, as a result, young people have been excluded from the museum landscape,” explains Jamie Brett, artistic director of the museum.
“Especially those teenage moments. This hormonal phase, which is biological, but which is also the one where we leave the house and where we gain our independence. This is what gives rise to these scenes [de sous-culture] incredible things that have never been given time or space,” he continues.
The museum itself is like walking into your best friend’s bedroom: basement rooms filled with personal photos, rave flyers, teenage trinkets and secrets scribbled on lined paper.
Above, a bar and a shop where adulthood meets childhood in a mix of industrial and nostalgic decor. A table football snaps to the rhythm of the beeps of an arcade game, while t-shirts in a corner display “Punk” and “Emo” in large letters.
The only thing missing are some Freddos at 10 p.m. on the counter.
Even if the whole remains modest, each element captures attention without ever overwhelming. The main archive covers 100 years of youth culture, from 1920 to 2020, and brings together everything from rebellious flappers in knee-high boots on their motorcycles to female DJs who had to carve out a place in the men’s clubs of the 1990s.
“We spend a lot of time on the road, across the UK, collecting people’s personal stories,†says Lisa der Weduwe, the museum’s archive projects manager and community programmer. “Much of what you see in the exhibitions comes from citizen contributions to our “Grown Up In Britain†campaign. HAS”
Most objects and images are accompanied by minimal context: sometimes a name, a year and a location. The rest is left to the imagination. Yet, through these snapshots of the years of discomfort of complete strangers – 1980s goths in striped tights and 2000s emos hiding behind their locks – we find our own youth in mirror.
Regardless of subculture or decade, we have all experienced that feeling of unrestrained expression, when the world, for a time, seemed ours to shake up and reshape.
“The fact that young people come together, discover themselves and discover each other enormously shapes society and the world in which we live,” emphasizes der Weduwe.
What is a youth subculture?
Subcultures, these distinct and singular communities within society, have always existed and take very diverse forms.
In the context of the Museum of Youth Culture, it is more specifically about youth subcultures born from very specific musical and clothing scenes, such as mods, punks, goths, emos and even ravers.
While each displays its own aesthetic codes and lifestyles, they all share values of defiance, breaking with the dominant culture and its norms. They have thus become one of the symbols of adolescent rebellion, often a source of moral panic among the authorities.
These subcultures also opened the way to alternative views and forms of art, pushing the boundaries of what was until then acceptable.
In recent years, however, some have wondered if it had not disappeared. According to them, the rise of social networks has led to a form of disconnection and standardization of culture as a whole.
Der Weduwe does not agree: for her, even if subcultures present themselves differently in the digital age, they do exist and are even in great shape.
“When you’re walking through central London and you come across a group [de fans de K-pop adolescents]all have a very coded style, listen to the same music and live this universe. This is reminiscent of the subcultures that we associate with the 20th century. But they have one foot in the online world and another in the real world, because that’s the society we live in today,” she explains.
“Subcultures aren’t going to look the same, because the formula has changed, in a way. They evolve with the times. HAS”
Not one more brick in the wall
Beyond the enrichment of its archives, the central ambition of the museum is to be a place in constant evolution, an intergenerational space. A place that does not just preserve the past, but focuses first on the future.
“It is really very important for us to actively support today’s young people. Even more so at a time when they are going through a difficult period and where many of their living spaces have disappeared or closed, due in particular to austerity and the lack of consideration for these spaces.
“The museum is there for young people, so that they have a place to be and to do. HAS”
One of the galleries illustrates this approach with an exhibition designed by the UK Youth collective. Entitled “Things I lied to my parents about”, it explores lying as a central element of self-construction in the face of cultural and social pressures.
It also resonates particularly at a time when social networks have just been prohibited for under 16s in the United Kingdom. In a reaction that went viral, a teenager, asked by the BBC what he planned to do from now on, replied: “Look at a wall.”
But at least, as artist, DJ and museum contributor Linett Kamala notes: “They now have an interesting wall to look at.” HAS”
Like adolescents, the Museum of Youth Culture is still looking for its bearings, ready to be guided by those to whom it is aimed. But it is already overflowing with English charm and warmth: a place to reconnect with a sense of community, creativity and listening to the real desires and needs of young people.
For other generations, it is a reminder that we are old, certainly, but that we were once young, too. And that, even if generations change, we are more alike than we think.
See, it wasn’t just a phase, Mom!
The Museum of Youth Culture opens on June 20 in Camden Town, London.
