Punk In Walsall: life and legacy takes place at the New Art Gallery, Walsall over the weekend of 3-4 December.
The exhibition is a unique collection of portrait photographs and interviews with punks from Walsall, reflecting on what punk meant to them at the time, and still means to them decades later. It’s a celebration of the dramatic impact of the punk scene on young people in one West Midlands town.
A free newspaper produced as part of this project, and there will also be a board where visitors can leave photos of themselves back in the day, copies of old gig tickets, newspaper cuttings from the time, and so on. Copies of the free newspaper will also be available at Walsall libraries from early December.
Project curator Steve Pottinger says, “I was very keen to record how punk changed people’s lives in places like Walsall, and I’m really proud of what we’ve created. The stories this project brings to life are wonderfully interesting and varied.”
The exhibition has been made possible through a Sharing Heritage grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to Walsall Creative Factory, an organisation founded to develop and deliver arts and heritage projects and events with local communities, and to celebrate diversity and culture.
The New Art Gallery is open 10am-5pm on Saturdays, and 12-4pm on Sundays.
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Pics by Sophie Pitchford