A permanent Museum of Youth Culture opens in Camden this May — and if you're thinking 'hang on, I swear I've already been here...', you may well be right.
The museum was originally founded back in 1997 by photographer Jon Swinstead, who was joined in 2012 by Jamie Brett; together (and starting in a shed) they built up an extensive archive of photos, flyers and posters, documenting the lives of teenagers and young people — everything from bomb-site bicycle racers in post-war London, to acid house ravers in the north of England in the 1980s.
Parts of the collection — which now spans some 150,000 photos, plus other ephemera, objects and oral histories — have previously gone on show at the Barbican and at a pop-up exhibition on Shaftesbury Avenue (we visited in 2021, it was excellent), as well as further afield, including Tokyo, where a Growing Up In Britain exhibition was staged.
But finally, after nigh-on 30 years, the Museum of Youth Culture has found a permanent home, in Camden Town (51 St Pancras Way to be precise) — a fitting locale, given the area's links to music, fashion, comedy, and pretty much anything else that's been largely shaped and reshaped by the younger generations.
Says the museum: "For generations, youth movements have emerged from clubs, record shops, markets and community halls. They have shaped how Britain dresses, speaks, creates and organises. From style and sound to politics and identity, youth culture has repeatedly redrawn the cultural landscape of the country.
"Yet the communities behind these movements have rarely seen their stories formally recognised or permanently preserved."
Further museum venues are set to open in Birmingham (2027) and Glasgow (2029).
Earlier this week it was announced that Secret Cinema will establish a new home in North Greenwich.
Museum of Youth Culture, Camden, opens 15 May 2026. Entry is free, walk-ins welcome, booking recommended.
