The exhibition runs until mid-January
The Barbican in London has opened the first ‘emo exhibition’ showcasing the history and importance of emo music.
Barbican Music Library’s new exhibition, titled ‘I’m Not Okay (An Emo Retrospective)’ promises an ‘unfiltered look at when youth culture was cute, raw, vulnerable, and unapologetically different.’
The exhibition examines how the early Emo scene resonated so deeply with a generation of teenagers.
The exhibition, which opened on Thursday 26 September runs until 15 January 2025, is a collaboration between the Museum of Youth Culture (MOYC) and the City of London Corporation-owned library.
The exhibition features personal photos taken on early digital and mid-00s phone cameras, the content has been retrieved from old hard drives and Photobucket accounts and focuses on the Emo scene which saw a boom between 2004-2009.
During this time, bands such as My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and Finch were hugely influential to the scene and to their teen followers.
MOYC say the exhibition is a visually engaging portrayal of how emo subculture became a positive force for acceptance, addressing issues of sexuality, mental health, gender identity and belonging.
Jamie Brett, the creative director of the Museum of Youth Culture said: “The Emo scene resonated deeply with teens who wanted to express their angst, doubts, insecurity, and sense of feeling and being different, and channelled their collective melancholy into a transatlantic subculture.
“As well as the content that we unearthed digitally, we are very grateful to everyone who remembered how Emo culture helped shape their lives and answered our shout-outs for visual material for the exhibition, essentially, giving them a degree of ownership of it.
“We are all hugely proud of ‘I’m Not Okay (An Emo Retrospective)’ and over the course of its four-month run at Barbican Music Library, the Museum’s team is looking forward to hearing how it evokes vivid memories of this pivotal time in people’s lives.”
Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee, Munsur Ali added: “Free to view and always very well-received, exhibitions at Barbican Music Library excel in showcasing the work of legendary bands, solo artists, and music photographers.
“This new exhibition, rich in discovered and donated visual material from the era, will prove very popular with everyone who drew comfort and inspiration from their favourite Emo bands’ confessional lyrics, and strength and a sense of release from creating their own visual identity.”
Admission to the exhibition is free.
