'Rebel Music' Sound System Culture, 
10th Oct - 20 Dec 2019
Showcase Gallery
Southampton
SO14 7NN

Press Release

Devised by Don John and working in collaboration with artist Gerard Hanson, the Showcase Gallery is proud to present a new exhibition that explores the impact of Jamaican music on British culture.  In particular, the exhibition tells the extraordinary story of the ‘Shebeens’ or ‘Blues’ clubs that were a key part of Southampton’s music scene in the 70s and 80s.  Bringing together new artwork, old images and found footage, the exhibition will creatively explore why these sound systems emerged in the city and what effect they had.
Visual artist Gerard Hanson will be creating new work especially for the exhibition, together with archive material and footage.  People with memories to share are invited to contribute images or stories to help tell the Southampton story.

About the Shebeens:
In the 60s, 70s and 80s, West Indian communities, who were regularly denied entry to clubs in the city, organised their own entertainment by having “House Parties” where they could listen to music that they loved without the aggravation that they received in public places. Some House Parties developed into illegal drinking house that were also known as “Blues” and “Shebeens” and Sound Systems were an essential ingredient.
Sound Systems now occupy a unique place in the early history of migrants from the Caribbean who carved out a little piece of their history in an environment that was sometimes cold and hostile.

'Sannon B' 2019

'Scratch & Forbez' 2019

'Stevo' 2019