Students visited the new punk exhibition at the British Library in London today in order to get more inspiration for the permanent exhibition at the Guildhall.
Art students Jade, Wiktoria and Harriet, who are responsible for the aesthetic of the exhibition, were joined by Will and Joe, who are working on the research and film element, as well as three secondary school students from Bridgemary School in Gosport, who heard about the project in the media and have lent their services.
The exhibition at the British Library focused on the first wave of punk from 1976 to 1978 and featured a number of rare artefacts, including Glen Matlock’s letter of resignation from the Sex Pistols, a leather jacket owned by The Damned’s Rat Scabies and John Peel’s own battered copy of the The Undertones’ Teenage Kicks, a single he championed on his Radio 1 show. Also on display was a rare 7 inch single of the Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen, released on the A&M record label. A&M pressed 25,000 copies of the record but sacked the band before its release, resulting in the destruction of the single. A few copies escaped the cull and one sold for £6,000 last year!

The exhibition gave the girls’ creating the story of punk in Portsmouth a better understanding of how artefacts need supporting interpretation and they are now amending their plans and looking forward to getting started!