Coventry City of Culture: House music exhibition opens
It celebrates the role Coventry played in developing the genre.
Last updated 11th Nov 2021
A special exhibition showcasing the role Coventry playing in house music is opening tonight (Thursday).
House is a Feeling will take place in part of the former IKEA building.
It's a chronological exploration of a music and cultural-revolution in Coventry from 1985 to 1993.
The exhibition explores the impact and legacy of electronic dance music and emerging youth cultures at a time of heightened social injustice, racism and violence, culminating in a musical and social revolution that put Coventry on the map.
The city was one of the epicentres of a new youth cultural expression in the UK and witnessed the birth of its first legal events orchestrated by Amnesia House and The Eclipse Nightclub, the first sanctioned all-night 24-hour club in the UK.
The work captures significant historical moments covering themes of racism and city centre violence featuring local people telling untold stories of their experience.
Coventry City of Culture Trust Creative Director Chenine Bhathena said:
“This exhibition documents one of the last youth and cultural movements of the 20th Century in the UK. The city was at the epicentre of electronic dance music and rave culture at this time. It was a hedonistic time in history when the younger generation were fully immersed in the moment, no mobile phones or selfies.
""It was just pure love for the beat. There was a sense of freedom and spirit amongst that generation that won’t be seen again. The exhibition will give the public a chance to see Coventry’s musical and social-revolution of the late 1980s and 90s.”
Adi Dowling, who has curated the exhibition, said:
“This is a historical documentation of one of the most important cultural movements of the 20th century and maps the journey of a youth revolution that took over the world. The amazing thing was this was brought together by black, brown and white street kids who had nothing but each other.”
The exhibition is funded by Arts Council England and Coventry City of Culture Trust.