The Rock & Roll Public Library (RRPL) hosts an experiential exhibition of just a fraction of Mick Jones’ personal collection of 20th century cultural artefacts and ephemera (is it ephemera since it has endured?) at London’s Farsight Gallery, from March 1st -16th, 2025. The exhibition accompanies the launch RRPL Magazine #1, their new periodical, a free standing publication—with an indie aesthetic, sharing with readers singular insights into elements of the archive and serving as a curated journey through the collection. The mag is a portable exhibition in itself, you might say, inviting us to find our own connections and inspirations in the Library’s wide-ranging artefacts, signposting creativity.
It would be no understatement to describe Mick Jones as one of the pivotal figures in music and culture in the UK in the latter part of the 20th century. He formed The Clash, one of the most influential bands of all time. Does anyone still reading not know that? I never know what you know. The band performed at the massive Rock Against Racism rallies that were a youth oriented antidote to the rise of the extreme racist right in the 70s. Uncompromising and confrontational, The Clash peered over a punk rock horizon few others were even aware of. Refusing to be pigeonholed their music flexed and ventured in ways their peers couldn’t consider. This way of seeing and embracing, the eclecticism, the musical magpie musicality - and I love magpies - is part of the same impulse that informs collecting I think. Finding joy and value where others cannot. Yet. Anyway…
The Rock & Roll Public Library contains thousands of items. Comics, magazines and books; guitars and musical gear, art and clothes; and music and film in every format. It is a celebration of a history that is analog, tactile and physical. It is the cultural history of Mick Jones’ life and times from art school, to The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite. A history gathered from record shops, magazine stands and long lost video stores. It is an array of networked influences spanning the entire 20th century from cities and towns, all over the world.
The Farsight's exhibition is the Rock & Roll Public Library's most exciting event yet. Personally curated by Mick Jones and his RRPL team, it's assembled with the meticulous tenacity of the most dedicated anthropological crate-digger. Leaving no potential nugget from the vast collection untouched or unconsidered.
I don't want to reveal too much in case real life intervenes and you miss it, but here look: Be Like Mick! Imagine a phantasmagoric living room where you can explore Mick's collection of home-recorded VHS tapes, books, comics, and newspapers – unburied treasure of an era we cannot bring ourselves to abandon. Us folks of a certain age. Wow! at the recreation of a 1970s listening booth where you can spin selections from Mick’s record collection. Then there’ll be a visual art installation styled as a kiosk, offering the first issue of the RRPL magazine and other exclusive merchandise.
Behind three contrasting covers, Issue #1 of RRPL magazine explores the DIY culture—to which Outsideleft owes a seminal debt. Feeling out the fabric of the indie aesthetic in fanzines and fashion, drawing the lines from art school to old-school dole queues, from home recording to high-tech studios. "RRPL #1 is a ragged map to aid further exploration and, hopefully, to inspire yet more creation."
Mick Jones says - “The magazine to me is like a record, with each article a separate track and it tells a story – my story. And by extension through our shared culture, all of our stories. I hope that anyone who reads it will enjoy it.”
I am totally thrilled about the exhibition and the RRPL Mag #1. I can’t wait to see both. Rock & Roll on March 1st!
Essential Information
The Rock & Roll Public Library
Farsight Gallery,
4 Flitcroft Street,
London WC2H 8DJ
1st – 16th March 2024
12 noon - 7pm daily
More info at www.rocknrollpl.com