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New cultural archive featuring Manchester-themed ‘iconic items’ to open in city centre

The British Pop Archive (BPA) will showcase items relating to quintessential British bands, legendary UK television, youth culture, and more.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 6th April 2022

A new national collection that’s dedicated to “the preservation and research of popular culture” is set to open in Manchester.

The British Pop Archive (BPA) has been created by the University of Manchester (UoM) and will open at the iconic John Rylands Library on Deansgate in the heart of the city centre, with the aim of celebrating British popular music and other aspects of popular culture to recognise its “pivotal influence” on the world stage.

Featuring “iconic items” relating to quintessential British bands, legendary UK television, youth culture, counter-culture, and more that have set trends around the globe, the BPA will be an important academic resource for research and teaching, UoM says.

It’ll also be public resource for exhibitions and public events that’s open to all.

Through working with the celebrated music journalist and broadcaster Jon Savage – who was recently-appointed as Professor of Popular Culture at The University of Manchester – the BPA has “ambitious plans” to build on its current collection.

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It wants to create a “comprehensive representation” of British popular culture.  

“Britain’s pop and youth culture has been transmitted worldwide for nearly sixty years now,” Jon Savage explains.

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“The intention of the BPA is to be a purpose-built pop and youth culture archive that reflects the riches of the post war period running to the present day, and while we are launching with Manchester-centric collections, the intention is for the BPA to be a national resource encompassing the whole UK”.

The British Pop Archive will feature “iconic items” relating to quintessential British bands, legendary UK television, youth culture, and more / Credit: The University of Manchester

To kick-start the action, on 19 May 2022, the British Pop Archive will launch with Collection – which is curated by Mat Bancroft, Jon Savage, and Hannah Barker, and is described as a “distinctively Manchester-flavoured exhibition” to really show why Manchester is the perfect home for the BPA.

It is set to explore the “vibrant cultural scene of a city” that has driven innovation, creativity, and social progress.

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The exhibition will feature treasures from British pop history – many of which have never been seen by the public – and some of the highlights include personal items relating to The Smiths, New Order, The Haçienda, Factory Records, Granada Television and Joy Division, such as Ian Curtis’s original handwritten lyrics for ‘She’s Lost Control’. 

“We launch the British Pop Archive with a Manchester focused exhibition full of unique and unseen artefacts,” Mat Bancroft says ahead of the exhibition openeing.

The BPA will open at the iconic John Rylands Library in Manchester city centre / Credit: John Rylands Library

He continued: “These materials tell the story of a vibrant city with art, culture and music at its heart.

“More than that, they foreground the creative catalysts, musicians, producers, artists, designers and writers who have instigated this repositioning of landscape to propose media as the new cultural capital of the city.”

Speaking ahead of the BPA launch, Professor Christopher Pressler – John Rylands University Librarian and Director of The University of Manchester Library – added: “The British Pop Archive is part of our desire to reach into areas not always associated with major research libraries, including pop music, popular culture, counter-culture, television and film.

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“This is a national archive held in Manchester, one of the most important centres of modern culture in the world.”

Featured Image – University of Manchester

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Eurovision costumes, props and instruments are being auctioned off – and it’s a mad collection

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Hannah Waddingham and Graham Norton's Eurovision desk is up for sale at auction

Items from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest are being sold at auction this week, from iconic costumes to enormous props. 

It means that fans of the massive event – this year held in Liverpool – will be able to snap up a permanent piece of Eurovision history. 

Have you ever looked around your living room and thought ‘You know what this place really needs? Those giant purple hands that Kalush Orchestra danced on this year’?

Or ‘I hate this jumper. I wish a had a green one with a face on like those Daði Freyr Eurovision dancers’?

Or even ‘A set of fluffy pink and yellow heart-shaped cushions would really brighten the place up’?

Well now there’s an auction you might be interested in, with bids opening from just £5. 

The original props, costumes, and even instruments are on sale now, until 11 June. 

Kalush Orchestra's hands are in the Eurovision auction
Kalush Orchestra’s hands are in the Eurovision auction
The Daði Freyr jumpers
Credit: BBC

You could be turning the actual lectern thing that Graham Norton and Hannah Waddingham stood behind for the results show into a cool bar, or decorating your pad with the drums used in Sam Ryder’s powerful performance. 

The top bids currently, just a few days after the auction started, stand at £500 – that’s for the presenter’s lectern and for the Daði Freyr jumpers.

Someone else has bid a whopping £250 for a set of fluffy cushions.

There are more than 60 items available to buy, including parts of the set, which were designed by Julio Himede and unveiled by the King and Queen.

The BBC has reported that 20% of the money raised will go to two different charities, split between ACC Liverpool Foundation and BBC Media Action, with the remaining 80% going back to BBC Studios to fund programmes and services.

Sally Mills, head of sustainability at BBC Studios said: “Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, both on and off screen.

“We have a responsibility to operate with as minimal an impact on the environment as possible, and are always looking for innovative ways in which to further engage audiences with our content, and extend the life of our sets and costumes.

“What better way to do this than to give fans the opportunity to own a piece of Eurovision history?”

The Eurovision auction is live here until 11 June.

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Featured image: BBC

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Slam Dunk festival apologises after fans complain of queues so long they ‘didn’t eat’

Sophie Smith Sophie Smith Slam Dunk Festival

Slam Dunk, a huge rock and punk festival, has issued a statement apologising to fans for ‘issues’ on site.

Festival organisers address a range of problems at the site – which takes place simultaneously in both Temple Newsam in Leeds and Hatfield – ranging from traffic flow, car parking, food vendors, toilets, accessibility and queues.

The lengthy statement said that the Slam Dunk team would ‘conducting a thorough investigation, whilst working extremely hard to rectify all problems for future events’.

It comes after hundreds of festival-goers complained of poor organisation and ‘overcrowding’ at both sites – though Slam Dunk has sought to assure people that it was not oversold, The Hoot Leeds reports.

A common complaint amongst fans was the huge waits for food traders, with many reporting that they gave up and didn’t eat.

This year’s festival was headlined by Enter Shikari, The Offspring, and Billy Talent, drawing in thousands of music fans from across the north.

One person said: “Had a great day today at @SlamDunkMusic but definitely lessons to be learned – queues everywhere were a joke (1hour+ minimum) and people were going hungry and without water or drinks because of it. Got to be sorted out for next year.”

Someone else posted: “Three hour wait for food so we abandoned the queue. Now queueing for ice cream as a meal substitute while only hearing Flogging Molly. Got us trapped here all day with not enough of anything: water points, food, toilets, routes in&out. F*cking sh*te.”

One festival goer commented on Slam Dunk’s Instagram page: “I’ve been going to SlamDunk for years now but this year has to have been the worst! And might have possibly put me off for ever returning. It’s amazing seeing the festival grow, but when it reaches the point where people’s safety it as risk it might be worth reconsidering everything.”

Others followed with similar comments like “Luckily we left early because we were starving, the amount of people I’ve seen that have been complaining about waiting 2-3 hours to get out of the carpark or waiting 2 hours for a taxi is shocking. This used to be my favourite festival of the year, it’s my 6th slam dunk and now I’m having serious doubts of ever coming again just due to how poorly organised it was.”

However, there have also been plenty of comments from those that attended the festival highlighting different experiences.

A comment left on Slam Dunk’s Instagram statement read: “Bloody great weekend guys. Don’t let the internet ruin it”.

Slam Dunk’s full statement about the 2023 festival

“Slam Dunk Festival would like to address issues which have been raised across the weekend.  

“We recognise there were problems and that some customers did not have an experience to the standard which they expected.  We would like to apologise for the issues which occurred and reassure our customers that we are committed to improving the event.

“We would like to assure all customers that neither event was oversold, and customer safety is, and always will be, paramount to the festival.  Like all other major events, all our event plans were reviewed by local authorities and are in line with industry standards.

“In response to the car parking and traffic issues, as previously highlighted there was an unprecedented number of cars arriving to the festival site who hadn’t pre-booked car parking.  This alongside other external factors created a traffic flow issue which inevitably caused delays into the festival site.  As a measure to combat the traffic flow issue we made the conscious decision to stop checking passes for parking to increase the rate of entry to the car park and to prevent further delays.  Keeping this in mind, we have made the decision to no longer provide on the day car parking, from next year only those who have pre-booked their car park tickets will be permitted to park on site, along with other measures we are looking to implement, we believe these will create smoother entry into event. 

“We also recognise the issues surrounding food vendors and queues.  We were assured that we had an adequate number of food vendors for the expected number of attendees, however, we recognise that this wasn’t the case, and we are committed to increasing the number of traders at future events, along with where they are located.

“Similarly, we recognise related issues surrounding toilets and water points.  We would like to reassure customers that these facilities are in line with industry recommendations and have been increased from previous years, however this is something which we will increase further for future events. 

“We are also aware of access issues, and we will be contacting our access customers directly for their feedback. 

“We recognise there are other issues not highlighted in this statement.  We will be conducting a thorough investigation, whilst working extremely hard to rectify all problems for future events.  We have always been committed to increasing customer experience and we welcome feedback to do this.  We encourage customers to complete our post event survey to assist us with this.

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“North – https://forms.gle/jPNFE4w2icfGxGtC7

“South – https://forms.gle/3nV9zJQnC4dkhz558

“Slam Dunk Festival 2023 would like to thank everyone who has provided their indispensable feedback so far. If you haven’t already, please raise any concerns with us directly through our post-event survey.    

“We are sorry about the issues that were encountered over the weekend, we take full accountability, and we are committed to improving our service. 

“It is with your feedback, as registered in this survey, that we will be able to consider all concerns when planning future events. We apologise that some of you did not have an experience that was up to the standard you expect when you attend Slam Dunk Festival

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“We are listening to you. We will be updating you on our plans to improve Slam Dunk Festival 2024 later this summer once we have collected all of your feedback. 

“Team Slam Dunk”.

You can leave your feedback for the Slam Dunk North Festival on this Google Form from organisers here.

Feature Image – Slam Dunk

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