A major exhibition at Leicester’s New Walk Museum and Art Gallery (April 12th -June 30th) will include ephemera, costumes and art from the Mod scene. The exhibition is curated and designed by social history author Shaun Knapp based around his latest book, Mods: Two City Connection, and Joe Nixon, co-founder of Arch Creative. It includes eyewitness accounts and photographs from Leicester and Nottingham Mods, which have never been seen or heard before.
The costumes – as well as original 1960s clothing – will be provided by designer Roger K Burton. One of the most established and well-known costume designers in the UK, Roger K Burton has worked in music videos, television, films and commercials since the late 1970s: he has dressed hundreds of influential artists and bands, from David Bowie to The Rolling Stones. With over 50 years’ experience of collecting vintage street fashion, Roger, an author and former Leicester Mod, started out supplying original clothing to cult films such as Quadrophenia and Absolute Beginners, and now hires original street fashion to TV and film.
The exhibition will also feature input from Alan Fletcher, the author who wrote Quadrophenia (the novel) and was a story consultant on Quadrophenia (the film). Alan also wrote The Mod Crop Trilogy, a trio of books based on his life as a Mod in Nottinghamshire during the 1960s.
View our short film above featuring exhibition contributors Roger K Burton, Alan Fletcher and Colin Hyde.
See pictures of the exhibition here:
New Walk Museum
53 New Walk, Leicester LE1 7EA
April 13th – June 30th 2019
Free Admission
Soft Touch Arts will also involve up to 100 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, giving them the opportunity to meet older generation Mods and participate in creating Modified, an ‘inspired by’ Mod culture exhibition at their city centre gallery.
Four different groups have each worked around a theme – music, fashion, design and film – to create artefacts for the exhibition. Each group has learnt about original 60’s Mod Culture and looked at and listened to the music, fashion, design and film of the time.
Quotes from interviews with original Mods have also given them a flavour of the time and been used as inspiration for their own pieces. The exhibition is themed to reflect a 1960’s coffee bar and there will be sixties inspired drinks and cakes available at certain points during the exhibition to encourage visitors to sit down, reflect and talk.
Soft Touch Arts
50 New Walk, Leicester LE1 6TF
April 13th – June 30th 2019
Free Admission
1964 was the year when Mods and Rockers fought on the beaches of southern England and Mod philosophy exploded unapologetically into UK mainstream culture. For many, life would never be the same again.
Mods 19:64 is a black and white photographic exhibition that captures Leicester and Nottingham Mods from that remarkable year as they are today in 2019 – 19:64. Hosted in the Spotlight Gallery at the LCB Depot, Rutland Street, Leicester, the photographs have been taken by Joe Nixon.
Most of the images were captured outside iconic Mod related buildings in both cities such as the Dungeon nightclub in Nottingham and the Il Rondo in Leicester. The images are accompanied by compelling quotations curated by Shaun Knapp and taken from his latest book Mods: Two City Connection.
The exhibition will be supported by a number of smaller exhibitions throughout the LCB Depot’s gallery spaces (to be confirmed).
LCB Depot
31 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1RE
June 14th – 30th 2019
Free Admission
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