Culture And Memory

D-Punk: Disability and Punk

Many key figures in the punk rock movement were disabled, such as Johnny Rotten, Poly Styrene and Ian Dury. Punk was an important outlet for the voice of the other. This project will not only examine a culture which celebrated disabled fashion and difference, but also examine how punk was a voice questioning the establishment and how that philosophy led to direct action with the disability rights movement of the 1980s and 90s. The objective is to work with a cross-generational group of disabled punks to engage in researching and devising a range of outputs including group archive visits, heritage workshops and the recording of 10 oral histories from disabled punks who were there at the inception of the punk movement. We also propose to create a 30-minute documentary we intend to screen at the Museum of London in Smithfield & BFI, project website, schools pack, podcast and punk fanzine.