Music
12 Apr 18

The Northern Ireland Female Punk Story: Open Call

The Oh Yeah Music centre are seeking to tell the story of the punkette movement, with your help.

With the aim of launching the exhibition at the upcoming Belfast Women's Work Festival, Oh Yeah Music are seeking punk iconography, clothing, memorabilia, photographs, posters, badges and great stories from the public.

A selection of all submissions will be used to create a special exhibition at the Oh Yeah Music Centre and will be used to complement the award-winning Northern Ireland Music Exhibition at the centre. Anyone who's been there, done that, worn this or heard that, Oh Yeah would love to hear from you.

In a statement from Charlotte Dryden of Oh Yeah, she said that “The story of Belfast punk is well documented and has inspired countless bands and music lovers around the world. The NI Music Exhibition has successfully celebrated and honored the bands and the scene, but admittedly very few females have featured. It has been an ambition of ours for a while to dig deeper into the story by seeking out the women from this particular era of punk. We have no idea how many stories will come to us, but we know they are out there. This is a very exciting project for us and we can’t wait to see what comes from this call out.”

The call-out has occurred around the 40th anniversary of the big moments in the local Northern punk story: the release of ‘Suspect Device’ by Stiff Little Fingers (March 1978), the first punk gig at the Harp Bar on Hill Street (Victim and The Androids, April 21 1978) and the first single release on the Good Vibrations label (‘Big Time’ by Rudi, April 1978). Much of this has been well documented and has featured in the wonderful Good Vibrations film. However the role of female fans and musicians needs to be researched in depth. As Oh Yeah have stated, "we want an alternative, alternative story."

Submissions will be accepted until the 11th of May. The exhibition will then show at the Women's Work Festival from the 5th to the 10th of June.

The international event itself focuses on the woman's role within the music scene and industry, and began in 2016. Watch a recap of the 2017 festival below.