Features
Blitz spirit: New London exhibition explores the defiant days of Soho’s iconic '80s night spot
Opening later this month at the Design Museum, ‘Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s’ is the first major exhibition on the legendary nightlife spot
A brand new exhibition is heading to London later this month, exploring the defiant and revolutionary days of Soho’s Blitz – a weekly club night that changed nightlife in the capital forever.
‘Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s’ is a first-of-its-kind retrospective of the legendary event, and the “first major exhibition” centred around the club since its closure in 1981. The exhibition, which goes on display at the Design Museum from September 20 - March 29, features “rare and hugely personal items that shaped the 80s”, many of which have been “hidden from public view” since that defining era.
“A major exhibition on the legendary Blitz club night that transformed 1980s London style, and generated a creative scene that had an enormous impact on popular culture in the decade that followed – from fashion and music, to film, art and design,” reads a description of the exhibition.
After opening in 1979 in Covent Garden at the backend of the punk movement, Blitz became a hub for creatives, igniting new non-conforming fashion styles and helping to launch the careers of both designers and artists like Visage, Boy George, and Spandau Ballet, who debuted at the club night in 1980. Every Tuesday for 18 months, Blitz Club ushered in a counterculture movement that rebelled against the changing political landscape of the time, before ultimately closing in 1981.
Support Your Local Club: Shop the Mixmag range here
‘Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s’ pulls back the curtain on the legendary club night, featuring over 250 items drawn from the Blitz club scene and the "creative individuals who populated it”. The exhibition is curated in collaboration with “some of the leading ‘Blitz Kids’” who experienced those nights first-hand, with many objects donated from personal collections that have been left untouched for some 40 years.
Take a sneak peek into the exhibition with a first look at some photos below, and find out more about ‘Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s’ here.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter
