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Issue 01, Vol. 01, July 2020 ISSN 2634-436X (Online)
£4.99
The Museum of
Hidden Histories
Journal
The Museum of Hidden Histories Journal
Edited by Jonathan Lee
Published by The Museum of Hidden Histories, 2020
Margam
Wales
UK
ISSN 2634-436X (Online)
All Rights Reserved Copyright The Museum of Hidden Histories
Not-For-Profit
Front Cover Image:
The Icelandic Punk Museum, taken by Rachael Lee.
1
Welcome to The Museum of Hidden Histories Journal
Croeso.
Welcome to our first edition of The Museum of Hidden
Histories Journal!
This journal will include articles, reviews, creative pieces which
all carry the museum’s core values and focus. This first volume
is written by members of the museum from all perspectives of
history and heritage.
If you would like to contribute an article please email
submissions@themuseumofwelshhiddenhistories.co.uk with
your proposal and we can take it from there.
We hope you enjoy the journal and future editions.
Thanks again for your support.
Jon Lee
Editor
The Museum of Hidden Histories Journal
2
3
Contents
The Future is Non-Binary.
Hannah Durham………………………………………………………………………6
International Velvet: A (very) Brief History of Attitudes to the
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities in Wales and
what the Black Lives Matter Movement means for our Future.
Jon Lee…………………………………………………………………………………..17
‘No Gods. No Masters. No Law. No Power. No Boarders. No
Wars.’ Chaos, Claustrophobia and Punk. An exploration of
Space within the Icelandic Punk Museum. Rachael
Lee…………………………………..………………………………………………….…27
Not as Massive, but Just as Real: Alternative Music Scenes in
Small Welsh Towns.
Ryan Williams………………………………………………………………….…….42
Just So You Know: Essays of Experience. Edited by Hanan Issa,
Durre Shahwar & özgür Uyanik, Book Review. Rachael
Lee………………………………………………………………………………………..52
4
5
The Future is Non-Binary.
Hannah Durham, Independent Writer.
Abstract
Gender and sexuality do not exist in a binary. They each exist in
a spectrum, home to a diverse range of important identities. A
binary approach to gender and sexuality is inherently flawed
and ultimately racist as non-binary (NB) people have existed
across the world for hundreds of years. It also creates a
harmful, hostile society that enforces oppressive stereotypes
onto us all. This piece draws attention to the existence of NB
identities, now and historically, the danger linked to the erasure
of NB identities and some key ways that we can be better allies
and embrace non-binary identities.
Keywords
Gender, Sexuality, Identity, Non-Binary, Gender Expression,
Gender Identity, LGBTQ, Queer
____________________________
Infinite, valid expressions of gender and sexuality are not found
in the binary. They exist and thrive in the vibrant, breathing
spectrum of the non-binary. Understanding gender as simply
male or female and sexuality as heterosexual or homosexual
falls into the trap of acknowledging identities only insofar as
they adhere to outdated stereotypes and ideals around the
performance of femininity and masculinity. The binary is a
6
social construct that is inherently problematic and flawed. At its
core, it dictates how we should express our gender and
sexuality based solely on our anatomy. Whilst a social construct
is not inherently true, that “...does not mean that it is invalid or
unimportant”.1 We navigate a world built on social constructs,
but we must think critically about whether they are useful,
healthy or accurate.
There is a whole spectrum of gender and sexual identities that
are not exclusively male or female, masculine or feminine,
hetero- or homosexual. Similarly, the expression of these
identities is fluid, vast, complex and important. As Stonewall
states “non-binary identities are varied and can include people
who identify with some aspects of binary identities, while
others reject them entirely.”2 It’s important to note here that
whilst ‘non-binary’ is typically used to signify gender
expressions, in this piece I will be using the term non-binary to
refer to each wider spectrum of gender, and sexual and
romantic identities, particularly those that lie ‘outside’ of the
norm.
I will be referring to both gender and sexuality in this piece as
the fight for equality for queer and trans people has been
historically linked thanks to the instrumental work of trans
1
Adam Rutherford, How to Argue with a Racist, (London: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson, 2020).
2
Stonewall, Glossary of Terms (2020),
stonewall.org.uk ,hhtps://www.stonewall.org.uk/help-advice/faqs-and-
glossary/glossary-terms#> [Accessed 14/07/2020].
7
women of colour such as Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera,
who were paramount in kick-starting the LGBTQ+ rights
movement with the Stonewall uprising (or Stonewall riots) of
June 28, 1969.
Whilst gender and sexuality are, of course, separate elements
of an individual’s identity, they are both often viewed on a
binary scale that is exclusionary and limited. An intersectional
approach to understanding identity is also crucial, as the facets
of our identity do not exist in a vacuum. Our identities can also
be influenced by our race, class, ethnicity, religion, and much
more. Whilst someone may be marginalised because of their
gender and/or sexuality, they can also experience multiple
forms of marginalisation at the same time.
As Audre Lorde said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue
struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”3 The
acknowledgement of non-binary identities also calls for the
awareness that these identities do not exist on their own.
Erasing Non-Binary Identities is Dangerous
As a Western society, we understand the binary. The binary is
comfortable, familiar and feels safe, but it’s only safe for those
whose identities are never questioned, delegitimised, ignored
or used as ammunition against them. It is a privilege to feel safe
within the binary, because for a lot of people it excludes them
and its reinforcement can be harmful.
3
Audre Lorde, ‘Learning from the 60s,’ in Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches
by Audre Lorde (Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press, 2007).
8Whilst non-binary identities are gaining popularity in the West,
a diverse understanding of gender is nothing new across the
world and is certainly not a modern or white invention. As
Queer House Party states “The gender binary is a Western
imposition” and it is colonialism that “has pushed the gender
binary to every corner of the planet”.4 Transgender charity,
Mermaids adds that “non-binary identities have actually been
accepted and appreciated for thousands of years, existing in
cultures and tribes around the world”.5
Non-binary gender identities can be seen across the world,
including the “two spirit people in North American indigenous
cultures to the five genders of the people on the island of
Sulawesi in Indonesia” and hijras, who are “officially recognized
as third gender” with “… recorded history in the Indian
subcontinent from antiquity onwards.”6
Transphobia and white supremacy “are all wrapped up together
through colonialism, Western standards of femininity and
patriarchal structures”. In recognising non-binary identities, we
also “must be anti-racist.”7
When it comes to understanding identity, gender and sexuality,
asking questions about the things that we are led to believe is
4
Queer House Party, Instagram (2020),
[Accessed 14/07/2020].
5
Mermaids, Instagram (2020),
[Accessed 14/07/2020].
6
Queer House Party, Instagram (2020), Ibid, Ibid.
7
Queer House Party, Instagram (2020).
9essential. Trans model and activist, Munroe Bergdorf says that
“...the conversations surrounding non-binary identities are so
important. It is getting rid of gender stereotypes that ultimately
oppress everybody. I think that being complacent and not
challenging norms is dangerous, because marginalised people
don’t benefit from the norm.”8
The danger for those who do not conform to normative ideas of
gender and sexuality takes various forms. Stonewalls’ LGBT in
Britain – Health (2018) report states that half of LGBT people
said they had experienced depression in the last year.9
However, it’s not only people’s mental health that is impacted
but also their safety and security, whether that’s in
relationships, at home, school, the workplace, or in society.
Stonewall’s LGBT in Britain – Home and Communities (2018)
report highlights that less than 55% of LGBT people feel “able to
be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity to
their family.”10 Whilst 11% of LGBT people have faced domestic
abuse from a partner, this increases to 17% for LGBT people of
colour. Stonewall also reports that almost 1 in 5 LGBT people
have experienced homelessness at some point in their life.
8
Munroe Bergdorf, Munroe Bergdorf: ‘At the beginning of my transition I
felt the need to look feminine – now I don’t care’ (2019), The Guardian
[Accessed 14/07/2020].
9
Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Health (2018), Stonewall
[Accessed 13/07/2020].
10
Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Home and Communities ([n. d.]), Stonewall
[Accessed 13/07/2020].
10In the workplace, the figures are just as distressing. Stonewall’s
LGBT in Britain – Work (2018) report states that 1 in 8 trans
people were attacked by customers or colleagues in the
previous year, and the LGBT in Britain – Hate Crime (2017)
report found that 2 in 5 trans people experienced a hate crime
or incident because of their gender identity in the previous 12
months.11
There’s also a chronic lack of understanding of non-binary and
LGBTQ+ identities and bodies, which is further compounded by
the intersections of identity that can further marginalise
people.
Over 40% of trans people said healthcare staff lacked
understanding of trans health needs (Stonewall, LGBT in Britain
– Trans) and this is only exacerbated for trans people of colour
who are “more likely to face discrimination on the basis of their
race and gender, and often their religion as well.”12 (GIRES)
11
Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Work Report (2018), Stonewall
[Accessed
13/07/2020]. Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Hate Crime and Discrimination
(2017), Stonewall [Accessed 14/07/2020].
12
Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Trans Report (2018), Stonewall
[Accessed
14/07/20]. Gender Identity Research and Educations Society (GIRES),
Inclusivity: Supporting BAME Trans People ([n.d.]), GIRES
[Accessed 13/07/2020].
11Whilst this data is important and useful to indicate the current
state of transphobia and homophobia in the UK, there still
remains a dearth of data that is specifically inclusive of gender,
sexual and romantic identities that don’t neatly fit into the
‘LGBT’ acronym. Although speaking specifically about sexism in
data, Caroline Criado Perez raises the important point that
“when we exclude half of humanity from the production of
knowledge we lose out on potentially transformative
insights.”13
Information is important. By ignoring non-binary people,
whether that’s at home, in the media, the workplace or in
healthcare, society becomes a hostile place for those that don’t
fit into normative ideas of gender and sexuality. The impact on
an individual’s life can be far-reaching.
If people do not see themselves being represented and
accounted for, there will be an increasing lack of knowledge
that could be ‘transformative’ for those within the community.
This is not only critical for those who are already in the
community, but also for young people learning about their own
identity and for wider society to accurately reflect and include a
diverse and growing number of people.
Being a Better Ally
We don’t have to wait to start learning and changing how we
think about the spectrum of gender and sexual identity and
13
Caroline Criado Perez, Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World
Designed for Men, (London: Vintage Publishing, 2020).
12expression. However, our acknowledgement of LGBTQ+ and
non-binary identities must be more than just a passive
response. Being an ally is a verb. It is an action. It is a
commitment to putting in the effort and doing the work to
listen to and respect those with different experiences to us. It is
a recognition that the hard work is never done. We must keep
fighting to make society a safe space for all people, including all
genders and sexualities of all races, particularly those that are
further marginalised in society. We can start being better allies
now. It begins with the basic respect of never assuming
someone’s gender or sexuality. It means using people’s
pronouns (such as she/her, he/him or more neutral pronouns
such as they/theirs), using more inclusive language (such as
‘folks’ rather than ‘guys’) and using someone’s chosen name
(which may be different to the one they were given at birth).
We need to listen to non-binary people, and learn about
experiences that are different to our own. Reading non-fiction
work to become educated is critical but it’s also important to
read fiction by non-binary and LGBTQ+ people to diversify our
understanding and to normalise seeing the lives, joy and stories
of people with a wide range of identities. Then comes the
important action. You can help to support and protect non-
binary and LGBTQ+ people by signing petitions, emailing your
MP about harmful legislation, calling out discriminatory
behaviours, attending marches and peaceful protests, donating
to relevant charities and so much more. We have a duty as
allies to speak up, but remember that your voice shouldn’t be
the loudest. Instead, help to raise the voices of those within the
community by bringing focus to the important work that they
13are doing. Awareness, acceptance and action are vital. The
gender binary and heteronormativity creates a stereotypical,
sexist and homogenous way of expressing ourselves as human
beings that is not only limiting but dangerous for those who are
marginalised in society. The binary is outdated, outworn and it’s
time for us to outgrow it. It’s time to embrace the full spectrum
of gender and sexual identities.
The future is non-binary, and that future starts now.
14Bibliography
Bergdorf, Munroe, Munroe Bergdorf: ‘At the beginning
of my transition I felt the need to look feminine – now I
don’t care’ (2019), The Guardian
[Accessed 14/07/2020].
Criado Perez, Caroline, Invisible Women: Exposing Data
Bias in a World Designed for Men, (London: Vintage
Publishing, 2020).
Gender Identity Research and Educations Society
(GIRES), Inclusivity: Supporting BAME Trans People
([n.d.]), GIRES
[Accessed 13/07/2020].
Lorde, Audre, “Learning from the 60s,” in Sister
Outsider: Essays & Speeches by Audre Lorde (Berkeley,
CA: Crossing Press, 2007).
Mermaids, Instagram (2020),
[Accessed 14/07/2020].
Queer House Party, Instagram (2020),
[Accessed 14/07/2020].
15Rutherford, Adam, How to Argue with a Racist, (London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2020).
Stonewall, Glossary of Terms (2020),
stonewall.org.uk ,hhtps://www.stonewall.org.uk/help-
advice/faqs-and-glossary/glossary-terms#> [Accessed
14/07/2020].
Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Hate Crime and
Discrimination (2017), Stonewall
[Accessed 14/07/2020].
Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Health (2018), Stonewall
[Accessed 13/07/2020].
Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Home and Communities ([n.
d.]), Stonewall [Accessed
13/07/2020].
Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Trans Report (2018),
Stonewall [Accessed 14/07/20].
Stonewall, LGBT in Britain – Work Report (2018),
Stonewall [Accessed 13/07/2020].
16International Velvet: A (very) Brief History of Attitudes to the
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities in Wales and
what the Black Lives Matter Movement means for our Future.
Jon Lee, Editor, The Museum of Hidden Histories Journal.
Abstract
Following the global Black Lives Matter protests in the summer
of 2020, this essay looks at Wales’ history regarding racist
violence and anti-racist protest. It also considers Wales in the
context of British colonialism and how our dual identity as
colonised and coloniser has shaped how black, Asian and
minority ethnic communities have come to be viewed in our
society today.
Keywords
Wales, BAME, Black Lives Matter, Identity, Butetown,
Hospitality, Equality, Tiger Bay, Porthcawl, George Floyd,
____________________________
On the 25th of May 2020, George Floyd was murdered by
officers of the Minneapolis Police Department. At the time of
writing, the four officers involved have not yet stood trial for
the crime, but, in response to the event, countless
demonstrations have taken place on every continent on earth
17with a human resident. Floyd’s death was, unfortunately, one in
a long line of systematic racially motivated murders in the USA
by authorities and has, due to its barbaric nature and video
footage, helped motivate and mobilise anti-racists to take to
the streets across the planet. Despite the world’s long history
of anti-racist protests, those of the summer of 2020 seem to
have caught the attention of the mainstream like few before.
Far from an American-only problem, however, the streets of
Wales have also seen protests, just as they have seen racism
and systematic racial abuse.
Historically, Wales has always positioned itself as a friendly,
tolerant nation. In 1188, Gerald of Wales wrote that, in Wales;
‘Everyone’s home is open to all, for the Welsh generosity and
hospitality are the greatest of all virtues.’14 This seems to be a
common theme in a popular stereotype of the Welsh to this
day. Currently, the opening boast on the culture section of the
Welsh Government’s website states that ‘whenever Wales
features in travel-writers’ round-ups of the hottest
destinations... our hospitality is praised as much as our
beautiful landscape’15. But history also shows that this is,
perhaps, as true as Gerald’s later observation that ‘in every
14
Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales and The Description of
Wales, Trans. Lewis Thorpe. (London: Penguin Books, 2004), p. 236
15
This is Wales, Welsh Government, 2020,
[Accessed 30th June 2020].
18house [in Wales] there are… certainly no lack of harps.’16
However legitimate the claim that in Gerald’s 12th Century
Wales, every Welsh person was completely welcoming and
hospitable; the centuries since have proven that this Wales
hasn’t always lived up to this virtue.
Tiger Bay, in the Welsh capital, was home to the UKs oldest
black community and was inhabited, through the late twentieth
century, by ‘more than 57 different nationalities’.17 According
to Mike Joseph, the son of German-Jewish refugees and who
lived in Cardiff following the War; ‘while England’s new black
communities expanded through the sixties and seventies,
drawing hostility from white neighbours and right wing
politicians, Cardiff remained placid’.18 However, although placid
when compared with our neighbour, we in Wales still have our
own ugly past regarding racist violence.
In the early 1900s, ‘the diversity of the British Empire was
reflected in microcosm’ in Tiger Bay.19 Seamen from across the
16
Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales and The Description of
Wales,
17
Shreds: Murder in the dock Episode One, BBC Sounds, BBC, 2019,
[Accessed 8th July 2020].
18
Mike Joseph, Windrush and Other Immigrants: A Tale of Connections,
Planet The Welsh Internationalist, Vol. 234, 2019, p.22
19
Bilad al-Welsh (Land of the Welsh). Muslims in Cardiff, South Wales: Past,
Present and Future. Sophie Gilliat-Ray, 2010,
19world, including Africa, Asia and the Carribean had settled in
Butetown and the Docks due to the booming coal industry.
Negative attention to the area from the local press, including
the Western Mail, helped cause feelings of antagonism in the
white residents of Cardiff, especially soldiers returning from the
Great War, towards the growing international population of
Butetown. For three days in June 1919, the white soldiers
attacked the residents of Butetown, who in turn defended
themselves with weapons. Three men died in the altercations.
This wasn’t the only incident of race-related violence in South
Wales at the time, either. That week, in June 1919, there were
similar occurrences in the docks areas of both Newport and
Barry, where mobs of white men attacked non-white residents
and businesses on the back of rising racial tensions.
Sixty years later, at the end of the twentieth century, the
reputation of Butetown had barely changed. In 1988 Lynette
White, a young woman working as a prostitute, was found
brutally murdered in a flat on James Street. Outside the flat, a
witness saw a white male covered in blood around the
suspected time of Lynette’s death. After failing to find and
arrest anyone remotely matching this description, police took
five black and mixed-race men into custody, including Miss
[Accessed 8th July 2020].
20White’s boyfriend, Stephen Miller. After denying anything to do
with the crime over three hundred times, Mr Miller was
coerced into a confession, which also implicated the other four
individuals. The eventual trial, which became the longest in
British legal history at the time, took place in Swansea and saw
three of the men; Tony Paris, Yusef Abdullahi and Miller found
guilty of murder. Despite eventually being freed years later, it is
widely accepted that the conviction of ‘The Cardiff Three’ was
based on racist attitudes toward the black community in
Butetown.
As the title of this essay suggests, the description of these
incidents are brief and further reading is encouraged.
Nonetheless, they are here to highlight the history of systemic
racism in our own country. These incidents, however, need not
all be pulled from the history books and the industrial south.
Last month, at the height of the Black Lies Matter protests, a
swastika was painted onto the garage door of Margaret
Ogunbanwo, a business owner, in Penygroes, Gwynedd.20 It’s
happening throughout our country every day; from
microaggressions and unconscious bias, to more overt
examples of attacks and graffiti.
20
Swastika Painted Outside Black Family’s Welsh Home, Robert Harris,
Wales Online, 2020 [Accessed 8th July
2020].
21It is not a mutually exclusive concept that a country can be both
colonised and a coloniser. Despite the status of modern Wales
as a small country that is part of a larger state, stretching back
centuries to the subjugation by the English, Wales has also
been on the other side of colonialism as part of the British
Empire. As Isabel Adonis notes in her essay ‘Colonial Thinking,
Education, Politics, Language and Race… From the Personal to
the Political' (as part of the Just So You Know collection,
reviewed on page 52); ‘The duality of Welsh identity as both
coloniser and colonised naturally leads to the merging of
cultures, but… it is the colonialists who become the defenders
of the native style.’21 The history of the British Empire is tied up
with attitudes of racial and national superiority which forms the
basis for racism in the United Kingdom, and Wales, today. Both
the fringe and mainstream parties on the right of British
politics, who push racist narratives and policies, are
represented in Wales, just as they are in the other nations of
the UK.
At the end of June 2020, I attended a Black Lives Matter protest
in my hometown of Porthcawl. Hundreds of people gathered
on a damp, windy seafront in a small town to stand in solidarity
21
Isabel Adonis, ‘Colonial Thinking, Education, Politics, Language and
Race…From the Personal to the Political’, Just So You Know: Essays of
Experience. Ed. Hanan Issa, Durre Shahwar & özgür Uyanik, (Cardigan:
Parthian Books, 2020), p. 77.
22with a worldwide demonstration demanding racial equality.
Decades earlier, on the same seafront, the American actor and
activist Paul Robeson spoke and sang messages of solidarity,
although remotely, to a gathering of South Welsh miners
gathered in the Grand Pavilion. Years after that, Margaret
Thatcher was egged by a protester at the same location. I
digress, but it shows that even a town like Porthcawl, small and
usually placid, can help to achieve political or social change as
part of a larger, global movement.
Even if Wales isn’t as brazenly racist, on a large scale, as the
United States, or the United Kingdom as a whole; ‘the least
racist is still racist’.22 There is always more we can do to create
an inclusive society. So what can be done here in Wales, with
the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement, to ensure
a future of equality? For a start, momentum is important. The
issues of civil rights and equality need to remain in the ongoing
public conversation until sufficient improvements are made.
This is especially true at times of political elections, both local
and national. Vote out councillors, Members of the Senedd and
Members of Parliament who push racist policies. Petition for
changes to education syllabi to reflect BAME histories.
Encourage friends and family to not see statues of white slavers
22
Dave, Black (Live at the BRITs 2020), 2020, see 3 min 38 seconds,
.[Accessed 15th July 2020].
23as just innocent parts of our past. The strides made by BLM
across Wales and the planet this summer should be
remembered as a movement, not simply a moment. It is
ongoing, and it is up to all of us to keep it alive.
24Bibliography
Bilad al-Welsh (Land of the Welsh). Muslims in Cardiff, South
Wales: Past, Present and Future. Sophie Gilliat-Ray, 2010,
[Accessed 8th July 2020].
Dave, Black (Live at the BRITs 2020), 2020, see 3 min 38
seconds,
.[Accessed 15th July 2020].
Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales and The
Description of Wales, Trans. Lewis Thorpe. (London: Penguin
Books, 2004).
Joseph, Mike, ‘Windrush and Other Immigrants: A Tale of
Connections’, Planet The Welsh Internationalist, Vol. 234, 2019.
Just So You Know: Essays of Experience. Ed. Hanan Issa, Durre
Shahwar & özgür Uyanik, (Cardigan: Parthian Books, 2020).
Shreds: Murder in the dock Episode One, BBC Sounds, BBC,
2019,
[Accessed 8th July 2020].
Swastika Painted Outside Black Family’s Welsh Home, Robert
Harris, Wales Online, 2020
[Accessed 8th July
2020].
25This is Wales, Welsh Government, 2020,
[Accessed 30th
June 2020].
26‘No Gods. No Masters. No Law. No Power. No Boarders. No
Wars.’ Chaos, Claustrophobia and Punk. An exploration of
Space within the Icelandic Punk Museum.
Rachael Lee, Porthcawl Museum and The Museum of Hidden
Histories.
Abstract
The Icelandic Punk Museum opened in 2016 is cased inside an
underground toilet. The chaotic and claustrophobic museum
uses this double meaning of space and shows how a counter-
heritage such as punk does and needs, to be recognised and
remembered in history and heritage as a whole. This paper
endeavours to provide an overview of the use of space within
the Icelandic Punk Museum and challenge the importance of
carefully exploring such hidden histories and heritage, thus,
being inclusive of others.
Keywords
Punk, Counter-heritage, Hidden History, Hidden Heritage,
Icelandic Punk Museum, Space, Public History, Inclusive,
27Picture 1. The steps down to the Iceland Punk Museum.23
Punk, originating in the 1970s onwards, was and still is,
a do it yourself chaotic social movement through expression of
anti-establishment feeling, a rebellion against ‘the man’.24
Iceland commemorates its punk heritage through the means of
23
The pictures within this paper were taken at the Icelandic Punk Museum
in December 2018 by myself.
24
Everyone could be part of this movement, it was about standing up for
your beliefs and your right to be different and push the boundaries of the
normative, which is what makes this form of heritage extremely fascinating
in presenting. Jon Savage, ‘Punk.’ (2018)
Accessed 21st May 2020.
28a museum in Reykjavik, cased inside an old public toilet.25 The
Icelandic Punk Museum was opened in 2016 by John Lydon, the
former frontman of Sex Pistols, and is curated by Dr. Gunni,
who is a historian of the Icelandic music scene.26 The aim of the
project was to celebrate and explore punk heritage, like in New
York and London during 2016 celebrating forty years of punk.27
Dr. Gunni was a punk in Iceland during the 1980s onwards and
his personal experience of emergence of punk has resulted in a
very finely tuned piece of heritage with its space presented
responsibly. Stephanie Moser states in her 2010 article, The
Devil is in the Detail: Museum Displays and the Creation of
Knowledge, ‘Space does not simply refer to the physical
parameters of the room in which objects are displayed, but
includes consideration of the way visitor movement is directed
25
For Iceland, punk was a movement that brought this country into the
twentieth century, which resulted in Iceland legally selling beer, another
great reason to remember such a movement!
26
I explored Dr Gunni’s online presence on twitter and also the Icelandic
Punk Museum website, although a great deal of it was in Icelandic which
was kindly translated for me by a friend orally. The majority of accessible
information in English is on the following link: The Icelandic Punk Museum.
Accessed 21st May 2020.
27
‘London to celebrate 40 years of punk culture in 2016.’ (2018)
Accessed 18th May 2020. Worth
noting that Hobley also had the same approach with punk heritage in New
York in 2016.
29or guided within that space.’28 Indeed, this chaotic and
claustrophobic topic of punk is more than the physical element
of a museum. By exploring this topic this paper will be raising
questions regarding how non-traditional heritage and
approaches to heritage can be carefully displayed and
understood by those who perhaps may have prejudices
towards such hidden heritage. How can a professional
understand such a complicated non-traditional underground
movement if they were perhaps not expert to such a
movement? Perhaps the people involved need to be included in
preserving this heritage in order to capture the true essence of
punk? How can museums and heritage as a whole learn from
the Icelandic Punk Museum to display a topic such as punk
without losing the core soul of what punk is, and meant to the
people part of the movement? Punk is an aggressive and
offensive movement to some, therefore, on this basis James B.
Gardner makes a valid point of the overall preservation of
history: ‘How do we do good history instead of spending all our
time worrying about whom we might offend?’29 Furthermore,
how can we learn to be more inclusive and recognise that
28
Stephanie Moser, The Devil is in the Detail: Museum Displays and the
Creation of Knowledge, Museum Anthropology, Vol. 33, Issue 1, 2010, pp.
22-32, p.24.
29
James B Gardner, Contested Terrain: History, Museums, and the Public.
The Public Historian, Vol. 26 No. 4 (Fall 2004), pp. 11-21, p.12.
30history and heritage is for everyone and remember to be
authentic to the truth?
Picture 2. A closer look at some graffiti on the floor showing
the aggressive feeling of punk through use of words without
reservation of offence.
Picture 3. The entrance from the road down into the Icelandic
Punk Museum.
31Picture 4. The interactive space of items on display for the
visitor to interact with.
The first thing that may strike the visitor is the location in which
the Icelandic Punk Museum is located: inside public toilets.
This, of course, is not a coincidence. Whilst the space is more
than physical, it offers the freedom of movement around the
compact, claustrophobic Museum, perhaps then offering the
32visitor the feeling of immersion into the heritage on display.
The fact that the museum is in public toilets is punk in itself, it
was considered that Punks were dirty,30 and so the space of the
toilets suggest a representation of that identity. This
underground location also suggests a flowing movement of
space for the visitor into the underground movement of punk
heritage, thus, simulating a reactionary inclusive experience for
the visitor within this space. Stephanie Moser states that ‘for
instance, visitors’ responses to the types of spaces in which
they see displays presented can be ‘transferred’ to the very
subject being treated in the display.’31 Moser’s theory of space
in practice does exist within the Icelandic Punk Museum as the
display is a touch and feel approach, where the visitor is
encouraged to try on the jackets and play with the instruments,
therefore, interacting with the space. For instance, the museum
also has a great deal of writing on the walls and smashed up
toilets with over-sized headphones in them. There are
headphones hanging from the ceiling for you to pull down and
listen to Icelandic punk bands from the 1980’s.
30
See the introduction and interviews from the book: Marc Spitz and
Brendan Mullen, ‘We got the Neutron Bomb. The untold story of L.A Punk.
An Oral history featuring the Go-Go’s, The Runaways, The Germs, X, Black
Flag and Beyond.’(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001).
31
Moser, The Devil is in the Detail: Museum Displays and the Creation of
Knowledge, p. 2.
33Picture 5. The toilets with typical punk graffiti on them giving
the element of submerging into the space of punk for the
visitor.
Indeed ‘categories such as cultural identity and heritage are
part of 'an international political model that people all over the
34globe use to construct images of others and themselves.'32
However, the Icelandic Punk Museum has created a memorial
and space that is a fixed point in the heritage landscape of
Reykjavik creating and curating cultural heritage of its own,
taking away the heritage of the public toilets which had its own
space in cultural heritage in itself. Therefore, the Icelandic Punk
Museum has created a space in counter-heritage in this
symbolic heritage landscape, thus creating a new identity of
heritage for the Icelandic people to celebrate.
Picture 6. A story board of Icelandic punk in a cubicle.
32
R. Handler and J Linnekin, Tradition, Genuine or Spurious, Journal of
American Folklore, 1984, Vol. 97, pp. 273-290, p.287.
35The rise of interest in the exploration of heritage has
seen the approach change significantly, now to include many
thoughts and applications had previously been overlooked by
traditional public historians. The understanding of heritage has
evolved alongside the evolution of methods and approaches
within the practice of public history which has contributed to
many more questions about heritage itself which should be
applauded. Indeed, it is interesting to note how the Icelandic
Punk Museum has followed traditional means to present a
space within a museum of a controversial subject, presented in
a traditional format, the location of this space is solely the
foundation of emitting such a heritage. Schofield’s three core
principles are an important basis when exploring space of
cultural heritage, especially a heritage such as punk. His core
principles in some regard breathe elements of punk, a ‘Do It
Yourself’ approach which makes society feel more ingrained
within their heritage on a local and a global scale. However,
Schofield argues that ‘retaining a system that works from the
top down, driven by heritage authorities without regard for the
individual, the local and the everyday, is not only outdated but
will prove impossible to sustain, I would argue, in a world
where local values and concerns are increasingly driving
regional and national agenda.’33 This approach challenges the
authorised or official view of heritage, although we need
professionals to guide the exploration of heritage, it is also
important the professionals listen to the people who are
protective of their heritage. This then provides a space of
33
Who Need Experts? Counter-mapping Cultural Heritage. Ed. John
Schofield. (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2014). p. 2.
36heritage that is true to form and as such avoids suffocating such
a complicated cultural heritage. However, how can public
historians capture the space of punk heritage and make it
conform to public history expectations when it is clear the main
aspect of punk is unconformity? It is understandable that one
can try not to offend anyone regarding such a complicated
heritage such as punk, but the overall importance is that the
heritage is acknowledged, funded ethically and provides an
authentic space. Perhaps if the location of the Icelandic Punk
Museum was not cased inside a quirky building, a museum for
punk heritage would not be the best use of space for such a
non-conforming cultural movement. Space is more than just
space within a heritage site, it is the space in which any
heritage has the freedom to move and as such becomes a
discourse of heritage exploration which should continually be
re-visited and not left as an end project. For heritage
professionals, heritage is never an end result, it is a respectful
continuous exploration in search of the truth for a valid story to
be told for those heritage it affects.
37Picture 7. A closer shot of some of the anti-establishment
graffiti, Queen Elizabeth II portrait in a mug shot style.
To conclude, hidden history and hidden heritage needs to be
further explored and preserved. It is part of the landscape and
part of people’s personal cultural history. By digging deep into
social and cultural identities can we begin to expose and shed
light on further history and heritage that perhaps has been
over-looked by traditional museums. Furthermore, by exploring
these hidden histories and heritage, we can engage the public
and society as a whole to perhaps understand and learn not to
judge the people part of these hidden histories and heritage.
The Icelandic punk museum has created a space and a place
that does exactly that: it shows how creative the punk
movement was, and actually how friendly the movement could
38be. Furthermore, it stresses the core sense of community
identity which is profound and at times lost to people who have
assumptions about movements such as punk. Indeed, from
exploring such counter-heritage, we can explore other aspects
of people within history, such as women, LGBTQi+, BAME and
disabled people who may have been part of this hidden history
and thus, begin to preserve such histories. This paper has
endeavoured to show briefly how by exploring non-traditional
heritages and histories we as a whole can learn more about
ourselves and the people part of such hidden history. History
and heritage is for everyone after all, so let’s remember to be
considerate and inclusive at all times.
39Bibliography
Gardner, James B, Contested Terrain: History, Museums, and
the Public. The Public Historian, Vol. 26 No. 4 (Fall 2004).
Halder, R, and J Linnekin, Tradition, Genuine or Spurious,
Journal of America Folklore, 1984, Vol.97, pp. 273 -290.
Jon Savage, ‘Punk.’ (2018)
Accessed 21st May
2020.
‘London to celebrate 40 years of punk culture in 2016.’ (2018)
Accessed 18th May 2020.
Moser, Stephanie, The Devil is in the Detail: Museum Displays
and the Creation of Knowledge, Museum Anthropology, Vol. 33,
Issue 1, 2010.
Spitz, Marc, and Brendan Mullen, ‘We got the Neutron Bomb.
The untold story of L.A Punk. An Oral history featuring the Go-
Go’s, The Runaways, The Germs, X, Black Flag and
Beyond.’(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001).
The Icelandic Punk Museum. Accessed 21st May 2020.
40Who Need Experts? Counter-mapping Cultural Heritage. Ed.
John Schofield. (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2014).
41Not as Massive, but Just as Real: Alternative Music Scenes in
Small Welsh Towns.
Ryan Williams, Independent Writer.
Abstract
With live music under threat due to the Covid-19 pandemic,
this essay looks back at how the alternative music scene in
South Wales followed similar paths on a regional and local
level.
Keywords
Music, Live music, Rock Music, Heavy Metal, Alternative Music,
South Wales, Porthcawl, Local Culture
____________________________
In times of difficulty, finding comfort in familiarity is natural. No
matter what that comfort is, it provides us with a sense of
home or reassurance of our identity. The Covid-19 pandemic
has made things anything but familiar. Landscapes, whether
physical, political or cultural, have undergone seismic change.
Worlds became smaller, as a Welsh Government-mandated 5-
mile limit on non-essential travel kept us within county lines.
This temporary hyper-local world has forced a reassessment of
what we consider "normal," as routines are disrupted, social
groups distanced, and cultural events deferred.
42Has the idea of "normal" changed? The Office for National
Statistics (ONS) reported in June 2020 that a quarter of us
believe it will be at least a year before normality returns - if
ever.34 And even when it does, only 12% want things to be the
same as before: BritainThinks, a strategy consultancy, reports
that a fairer, more equal society, is what "the new normal"
should be.35
But what about the things that came before? Live events,
particularly music, are unlikely to return in 2020. A £5.2 billion
industry faces an uncertain future, only slightly alleviated by
Government support: £59 million has been given by UK
Government to Welsh Government to share among a Welsh
arts sector losing around £1.4 million every week of lockdown,
but with all sectors massively impacted and little chance of a
reprieve in the near future, it paints a bleak picture for the
nation's live music scene.36
The loss of small venues in Wales in the past, such as Gwdihŵ
in Cardiff which closed in January 2019, evoked a powerful
34
'Personal and economic well-being in Great Britain: June 2020', Office of
National Statistics,
, last accessed
14/07/2020
35
'BritainThinks Coronavirus Diaries', BritainThinks,
, last
accessed 14/07/2020
36
"Coronavirus: Extra £59m for Wales from new arts support package', BBC
News, , last accessed
14/07/2020
43response from dismayed community groups.37 North up the
A470, Treforest Green Rooms, a home-from-home for Valleys
bands, suffered flood damage in February 2020 - a fundraising
campaign saw fans, musicians, and fellow Welsh venues raise
over £4,000 to replace equipment and fund refurbishment.38
These two examples show the importance of live music to a
community. Losing it goes beyond economics. It's a potential
loss of identity, community and inspiration. It's a potential loss
of history. TJ's, the iconic Newport venue where Nirvana's Kurt
Cobain reportedly proposed to Hole singer Courtney Love,
closed its doors in 2010 upon the death of owner John Sicolo,
yet its tales live on, such as those from a raucous show from
Watford punks Gallows in September 2007. Sicolo's grandson,
Ashley, now runs El Sieco's (TJ's original name), with artifacts
from his grandfather's club adorning the walls and stoking fond
memories.
Similar nostalgia is captured in Massive: The Amazing Rise and
Fall, the 2016 documentary directed by Jamie Black.39 Charting
the rise and fall of South Wales' alternative music scene from
2000-2010, the documentary looks at the origins of a new
charge of Welsh bands that stole a foothold in the UK charts in
the early 2000s. Alternative acts, such as Funeral For A Friend,
Lostprophets, Midasuno, The Blackout, Kids In Glass Houses,
37
Sam Cotter, 'Gwdihw Closure', Quench,
, last
accessed 14/07/2020
38
The Green Rooms 'The Floodening' fundraiser,
,
last accessed 14/07/2020
39
Massive: The Amazing Rise and Fall (2016), dir. Jamie Black
44received international recognition and helped build a scene
that trickled down into small towns across South Wales.
Documenting an "underground music scene [...] that was
unique and meant the world to those involved, but to the
outside world [...] didn't exist," Massive might look at the music
scene on a regional scale, but it is uncanny how the film, its
conversations and themes mirrors music scenes on hyper-local
scale.40 Conversations similar to those in the film can be heard
in towns across South Wales today, with the "small, special,
interconnected" nature of South Wales music, as described by
Juniper's Hannah Pitt, helping foster copycat scenes along the
M4 corridor.41
One such original music scene could be found in Porthcawl,
particularly between 2005 to 2010. Similar to the overall Wales
scene, it paradoxically "meant the world" and "didn't exist,"
depending on your postcode. Before and after this time, bands
from Porthcawl played outside the town in venues in Wales and
beyond, but for a short time it had its own scene driven by the
bands and people involved in it.
Here is what I remember of it.
2005. Two bands formed 5 miles east on the A48 had released
Gold-certified albums (Funeral For A Friend's Hours and Bullet
For My Valentine's The Poison). In an era where Welsh bands
40
'Plot: Massive, The Amazing Rise and Fall', IMDb,
, last
accessed 14/07/2020
41
Massive, dir. Jamie Black
45were taking their place on the main stages of UK festivals, the
hype and hope talked about in Massive had reached the coast.
Every Thursday, a jam night in The Pier became a focal point for
local musicians, with a number of "first shows" happening. For
a small town, there was a wide range of genres - from the hard-
hittin' Denatured, to sunshine-soaked veterans Virgin Summer,
Porthcawl's original music scene at the time was eclectic.
Bands such as Second Hand Smile, Every Reason To and State
Run all broke out of CF36, with members of post-hardcore
outfit My Life In The Knife Trade also hailing from the town.
Bands shared equipment, shows and even members. "Meant
the world" and "didn't exist" was exemplified in shows from the
era - a 6 band line-up in Porthcawl Pavilion in 2005 brought 5 of
those bands together, plus Bridgend ska-band Killed By Kandy,
playing a half-filled main hall, yet the show sticks in the mind 15
years later.
2007 saw Surf Cult pitch up on Salt Lake. Part of a wider surfing
festival, the now-defunct event saw the underrated Midasuno
(subject of author Rachel Trezise's book Dial M for Merthyr)
headline, Denatured represent the locals and an early
incarnation of Revoker perform. Revoker, that night called
A470, went on to sign to Roadrunner Records, becoming
labelmates of Slipknot, Trivium and a host of other renowned
metal bands. Revoker/A470 member Jamie Mathias, would
later join Bullet For My Valentine, following bassist Jay James'
departure in 2015.
A short-lived battle of the bands competition run by Porthcawl
Comprehensive School demonstrated just how far the scene
had trickled down. In 2008, 5 bands, all still in school, played
46their own distinct styles of music, from Journey-inspired
keyboard rock to upstroked ska-punk rhythms, for a panel that
included Funeral For A Friend singer Matt Davies-Kreye. The
next iteration saw southern rock riffs soaked with a snuck-in
bottle of wine from hardcore band Tornado Valley; a swig too
far for the school, who perhaps understandably didn't hold
another competition in 2010.
The "interconnectedness" of guitar bands didn't prohibit other
strands of music. Another night in the Pavilion, this time in
2009, saw a crossover show, with hip hop group Felonz and
post-hardcore band All For The Fall performing in the depths of
the Jubilee Room. With rappers and pop-punk bands filling up
the rest of the night, it was a mix of genres expected from large
festivals, but on a weekday night in a small Welsh town? A
rarity.
Looking beyond jam nights and one-offs, the Apollo nightclub
played host to bigger acts from further afield. Its underground
dinge, combined with a wall of televisions pushing static from
their screens, made it the closest Porthcawl had to a "venue" in
that time. Shows were snuck into a Thursday evening, close
enough to the weekend for them to feel eventful but far
enough away to not interfere with the weekend nightlife. Once
the Apollo closed, gigs for original music bands became few and
far between.
By 2009, mirroring Massive, the Porthcawl original music scene
began a slow-but-steady decline. "Real life" took over, with
many bands in the scene seeing members leaving town for
study or work. Sympathetic landlords were also harder to find:
following the closure of the Apollo, original bands and
47promoters sought a midweek night here or there but struggled
to wrestle a Friday or Saturday slot from now-ubiquitous cover
bands.
When they did, it was for new names but the same faces. Indie
group Walker (renamed Kissilver), hard rockers Riot City Saints,
psychobillies Cowboy and the Corpse, hardcore moshers Heart
Of Gold and atmospheric Badlands all played post-2009, but the
majority of their members played in Porthcawl bands who
made up the class of 2005.
Hometown shows were a rarity: while cover bands booked up
almost every Friday/Saturday of the year, original bands took
Tuesday or Thursday's scraps and instead looked further afield
to the still-strong Cardiff and Swansea scenes. When a weekend
was wrangled, as Riot City Saints managed in August 2012, it
was well-received, but never enough to convince landlords to
move away from, as one landlord said, cover bands who'd "just
take their £150 and go." By comparison, original music bands
were surprised if petrol money was offered.
The Prince of Wales, on Station Hill, twice opened its doors to
packed-out, bar-drunk-dry shows. The first brought three
Porthcawl-linked bands (Cowboy and the Corpse, Riot City
Saints, Heart Of Gold) together; the second show went
transatlantic. Locals Badlands and Riot City Saints opened,
while The Sawyer Family from Oregon, USA, closed out the
night with an eerie brand of hard rock befitting a band sharing
the name of the family in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
In 2014, at the bottom of Station Hill, The Sandpiper played
host to an all-dayer, bringing many of the scene's original
members back in different guises. Homoh and Riot City Saints
48featured (and even shared) former members of Denatured;
Badlands put State Run and Virgin Summer side-by-side, while
their drummer had even filled in for Riot City Saints at a
previous show in Abersychan. Again, an "interconnectedness"
that Hannah Pitt describes as a blessing and a curse - with so
few musicians making up a scene, when they start to leave, the
scene starts to lose momentum.
International bands played if-you-know-you-know shows and
picked up some slack. Scottish luchador punks The Bucky Rage
played havoc in The Pier Hotel, while Polish trash-grass band
The Freeborn Brothers have made their unique brand of
twangy bluegrass theatre an annual fixture in the back room of
The Lorelei Hotel.
But original Porthcawl bands? Now, from the outside looking in,
it seems there aren't many. One Time Alive, a rock n' roll band
made up of Porthcawl-based musicians, have recorded albums.
Others mentioned in this piece have fell by the wayside - if they
didn't formally disband, there certainly aren't any future plans.
The vast majority of live music in the town is now cover bands,
culminating in the Elvis Festival, which attract tens-of-
thousands of The King's loyal subjects from around the globe.
Planet Rockstock, a festival organised by radio station Planet
Rock, takes place each December in Trecco Bay. Well-known
rock bands such as Skid Row, The Darkness and Thunder have
played in the past, but the band closest to Porthcawl making
the stage is Those Damn Crows, a hard rock group from
Bridgend.
As in Massive, the original music scene hasn't been the same
post-2010. Despite that, some of the Porthcawl bands
49mentioned here gained recognition outside of the town. Even if
it wasn't on the scale of the bands featured in Massive, the
Porthcawl scene shares the same sentiment: it "meant the
world to those involved, but to the outside world [it] didn't
exist."
50Bibliography
'BritainThinks Coronavirus Diaries, 07 July 2020', BritainThinks,
, last accessed 14/07/20
Coronavirus: Extra £59m for Wales from new arts support
package', BBC News, , last accessed 14/07/2020
Cotter, Sam, 'Gwdihw Closure', Quench,
, last accessed 14/07/2020
Massive: The Amazing Rise and Fall (2016), dir. Jamie Black
'Personal and economic well-being in Great Britain: June 2020',
Office of National Statistics,
, last accessed 14/07/2020
'Plot: Massive, The Amazing Rise and Fall', IMDb,
, last accessed 14/07/2020
The Green Rooms 'The Floodening' fundraiser,
, last accessed 14/07/2020
51Just So You Know: Essays of Experience. Edited by Hanan Issa,
Durre Shahwar & özgür Uyanik, (Cardigan: Parthian, 2020).
Book Review.
Rachael Lee, Porthcawl Museum & The Museum of Hidden
Histories.
Abstract
Book review of the up and coming new release of Just So You
Know: Essays of Experience from Parthian Books
www.ParthianBooks.co.uk due for publication on 1st August
2020, £9.99. This new publication reveals the diverse timely
urgency for such insights of personal experiences originating
here in Wales: experiences ranging from racial, sexual, gender,
cultural, political, immigration and language identities.
Keywords
Race, Sexuality, Gender, Cultural Heritage, Political,
Immigration, Language, Identity, Diverse, Wales
52Just So You Know is a collection of
essays of expereince based in and
around Wales, that lays bare for the
reader raw emotion and voices of
real people that society needs to
hear now more than ever. Carefully
woven and at times deeply surreal,
these essays cover a range of
powerful journeys: from race,
identity, sexuality, gender,
immigration, language, cultural
heritage to politics. Furthermore, these essays offer an honest,
diverse and open conversation with Wales at the core of all
these narratives. Indeed, while these essays challenge us to
consider others, they also seek for us to learn from each other.
Although only 17 essays in total, they all in their own merit
provide a type of portal into the author’s soul, a rare thing to
achieve, but a powerful sense of connection. After each essay
one had to pause despite the urge to carry on reading, make a
tea to really reflect and consume the words that offered
nourishment for the pain and angst the author revealed unto
us. One considered it vital to provide one-self space and time
53between each essay so that each essay could be justly absorbed
for what it was.
For me, my favourite essay (very difficult to choose), was
‘Everything I Will Give You’ written by Kandace Siobhan Walker
which explores the relationship between women and water.
Perhaps it is due to my recent research interest between the
relationship of Medieval wales, Water, Medicine and Holy
Women that I was really drawn to this essay. However, I
implore you that it was the creative genius of Kandace
comparing the same folk story narratives throughout different
countries over the centuries showing the continuity of the
relationship between women and water and how engrained it
has become within cultural heritage.
However, now more than ever this collection of essays is
needed, especially with the overdue acknowledgment of the
movement of #BlackLivesMatter. ‘Colonial Thinking, Education,
Politics, Language and Race…..From the Personal to the
Political’ written by Isabel Adonis is powerfully heart-breaking
by shedding light on her experience of racial abuse in a divided
community. Having been rejected by Welsh and English
communities, Isabel, having been in search to find a new home
in Bethesda, was instead forced into an awareness of black
identity. She highlights that Wales is not just white, but
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