Free exhibition by the Up Yours! Collective on the women and non-binary people who shaped punk, with rare items from their personal archives.
God Save the Queens opens at the Museum of Youth Culture on Friday 23 October, running through to 22 November. It's a three-part exhibition curated by the Up Yours! Collective, and one of the first external shows the museum has hosted since its Camden site opened in June 2026. The whole thing is dedicated to the legacy of Poly Styrene, X-Ray Spex frontwoman, and to the women and non-binary people who shaped punk from the stage to the crowd.
The first part brings together rare and previously unseen artwork, photography, fashion and ephemera from the personal archives of original female punks, including the Poly Styrene Archive, the Zandra Rhodes Foundation, the Rock & Roll Public Library and the British Culture Archive. The second puts fine art by female punks and contemporary artists rooted in the movement alongside work by the radical feminist photographer Linder. The third pairs photography by established photographers with community-submitted images and gig posters. It's all part of the inaugural Up Yours! God Save the Queens festival, a London-wide programme running from July to November 2026.
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The exhibition features contributions from Poly Styrene, Lora Logic, Dame Zandra Rhodes, Rhoda Dakar, Gina Birch, Don Letts, Big Joanie, Vivien Goldman and Gaye Black of The Adverts. It's free to visit, and walk-ins are welcome, though the museum advises pre-booking a time slot. You'll find it at the Museum of Youth Culture, 51 St Pancras Way, London NW1 0PZ, open Wednesday to Sunday, 12-6pm.
