Provocatively titled ‘I’m Not Okay’ and promising an “unfiltered look at when youth culture was cute, raw, vulnerable, and unapologetically different”, Barbican Music Library’s new exhibition examines how the early Emo scene resonated so deeply with a generation of teenagers.
‘I’m Not Okay (An Emo Retrospective)’, which opens tomorrow, is a collaboration between the Museum of Youth Culture (MOYC) and the Corporation-owned library.
Featuring personal photos taken on early digital and mid-00s phone cameras, the content has been retrieved from old hard drives and Photobucket accounts and focuses on the first-generation Emo scene (2004-2009) when bands such as My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and Finch were hugely influential.
The result, says MOYC, is a visually engaging exhibition that delves into how Emo subculture became a positive force for acceptance, addressing issues of sexuality, mental health, gender, identity, and belonging.
Creative Director, Museum of Youth Culture, Jamie Brett said:
“The Emo scene resonated deeply with teens who wanted to express their angst, doubts, insecurity, and sense of feeling and being different, and channelled their collective melancholy into a transatlantic subculture.
“As well as the content that we unearthed digitally, we are very grateful to everyone who remembered how Emo culture helped shape their lives and answered our shout-outs for visual material for the exhibition, essentially, giving them a degree of ownership of it.
“We are all hugely proud of ‘I’m Not Okay (An Emo Retrospective)’ and over the course of its four-month run at Barbican Music Library, the Museum’s team is looking forward to hearing how it evokes vivid memories of this pivotal time in people’s lives.”
Chairman of the Corporation’s Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee, Munsur Ali, said:
“Free to view and always very well-received, exhibitions at Barbican Music Library excel in showcasing the work of legendary bands, solo artists, and music photographers.
“This new exhibition, rich in discovered and donated visual material from the era, will prove very popular with everyone who drew comfort and inspiration from their favourite Emo bands’ confessional lyrics, and strength and a sense of release from creating their own visual identity.”
The Corporation is one of the largest funders of heritage and cultural activities in the UK, investing over £130m every year. The organisation manages a range of world-class cultural and heritage institutions, including the Barbican Centre, Tower Bridge, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Guildhall Art Gallery, The London Archives, and Keats House. It also supports the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Museum.
Destination City is the Corporation’s growth strategy for the Square Mile as a world-leading business and leisure location. Destination City is delivering a seven-day-a-week Square Mile that is a global magnet for businesses and residents, visitors, and workers alike.
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