PYMCA Celebrates Self-Expression With UNORDINARY PEOPLE 4/21

Unordinary People is brought to you by acclaimed youth culture archive, PYMCA. Celebrating the self-expression, idealism, frustrations, resilience and creative vitality of young people the world over, the exhibition will take place at the Royal Albert Hall, as part of the venue's reflect exhibition series.

Unordinary People will feature an eclectic selection of rare and exclusive cultural photography, archive video footage and essays sourced from around the globe. The exhibit will document the history, lifestyles, fashions, hairstyles, music and subcultures of young people, from the 1960s to the present day and provide a fascinating insight into the lives, circumstances and concerns of their subjects.

To complement the exhibition, PYMCA will also be hosting a series of talks with prominent guest speakers that have spent their years documenting the culture vultures and explorers of identity that have formed youth movements over the last fifty years. These guests will include anthropologist, photographer and author of some of the World's most influential style tribe books, Ted Polhemus and documentary photographer Paul Hartnett, famous for his exhibitions featuring Leigh Bowery's Taboo club and ‘Midnight's Children'.

PYMCA has become renowned for its for street culture exhibitions, showcasing images from their extensive archive. Having already celebrated subcultures of Rave and Skinheads, Hip Hop and Taboo club scenes, most recently hosting a next generation art competition that identified some of London's most promising artistic talents, this exhibition will be no exception. The exhibition will feature within the Royal Albert Hall's grand circle corridor, leading you on a unique journey through the decades and will be the first time PYMCA has displayed all its archive genres together in one showcase.

In addition to the images on display, PYMCA has selected its most spectacular and best-loved images to be available in one limited edition exhibition book, available at the PYMCA shop online.

Unordinary People - Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AP - 21 April 2009 - 23 May 2009

‘Streetstyle: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow' talk by Ted Polhemus - 23 of April, 6pm - £6.50

Public open days:
Friday 15 May 6pm - 9pm
Saturday 16 May 10am - 2pm
Sunday 17 May 11am - 3pm
Saturday 23 May 10am - 2pm

PYMCA has built its reputation as the World's leading photographic youth music culture archive, specialising in global youth culture, lifestyle and music and was established over a decade ago by Jon Swinstead. His aim was to create a collection of images that captured the real essence of life as a young person. PYMCA has been known as an independent, London-based archive, since 1997, sourcing, and collecting quality photography documenting youth and subculture fashions, movements and lifestyles from all over the world, past and present. PYMCA images are unique by delivering an intrinsic understanding of these cultures, as opposed to the typical media stereotyping and pigeonholing. Many of its photographers were deeply involved in the cultures that they captured through the lens, giving their work an added intensity and honesty and delivering a more genuine cultural insight. Over the past few years PYMCA has produced some of London's most interesting subcultural exhibitions using images from its archive. In 2009, PYMCA continues to develop its unique offering of images to now combine more than just images. If you have a question about youth culture, go to PYMCA. Unordinary People launches its change to become PYMCA Cultural Research.

http://www.pymca.com
http://www.pymcart.com

The Royal Albert Hall is one of the UK's most treasured and magical buildings, recognisable the world over. It is a registered charity and operates without any public subsidy. Since opening in 1871, the Hall has had an unparalleled history of exceptional performances by the world's leading artists. Today over 350 events are held in the main auditorium each year and a series for young, just signed artists takes place in the Elgar Room. The Hall also showcases world music and jazz artists through its lunchtime music series, ignite, and a free exhibition series entitled reflect.

http://www.royalalberthall.com/

BBC Motion Gallery, offers media professionals access to the world's most comprehensive collection of high-quality motion imagery for licensing worldwide. With more than 500,000 hours of footage, BBC Motion Gallery encompasses a wealth of content covering natural history, sport, news, locations, art, music, celebrities, historic events and more. BBC Motion Gallery is also the exclusive global representative of the CBS News Archive, and has global distribution deals with NHK, Japan's national broadcaster, ABC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and CCTV, China's national television station. BBC Motion Gallery operates from offices in London, New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Dubai, Los Angeles, Paris, Toronto, Sydney and Tokyo

http://www.bbcmotiongallery.com

For further information on Unordinary People or to book your place at one of our talks please contact PYMCA on 0207 251 8338 or email info@pymca.com

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.