Exhibition, Museum of Youth Culture, London, 23rd October – 22nd November 2026
God Save the Queens

Header shot: Poly Styrene by Falcon Stuart

Fifty years after Poly Styrene and a generation of pioneering women helped shape punk’s music, art and identity, UP YOURS! GOD SAVE THE QUEENS is a landmark exhibition bringing together rare and previously unseen artwork, photography, fashion and personal archival material celebrating the women who transformed punk’s visual and cultural language.

The exhibition is dedicated to the legacy of Poly Styrene – the visionary singer, songwriter and frontwoman of X-Ray Spex – and challenges traditional punk narratives by placing the women who helped shape the movement at the centre of the story: not as footnotes to punk history, but as some of its defining creative forces.

The exhibition forms part of the inaugural UP YOURS! GOD SAVE THE QUEENS festival, a new London-wide programme running from July to November 2026. Alongside the landmark exhibition, the festival includes a historic live performance featuring a newly formed supergroup of pioneering musicians from X-Ray Spex, The Raincoats and The Slits, a talks programme, and the release of previously unheard Poly Styrene recordings, creating one of the most significant celebrations of women’s contribution to punk ever staged.

Music and art icons contributing to the exhibition and wider festival include X-Ray Spex saxophonist Lora Logic, fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes, The Specials collaborator and The Bodysnatchers lead singer Rhoda Dakar, The Raincoats co-founder Gina Birch, visual artists Caroline Coon, Linder and Sue Webster, BBC Radio 6 Music DJ, The Slits manager and The Clash music video director Don Letts, Big Joanie, as well as previously unseen material from the personal archive of the late Poly Styrene.

The exhibition brings together rare archival material from significant music, fashion and cultural archives and collections, including the Poly Styrene Archive, the Zandra Rhodes Foundation and The Rock & Roll Public Library (RRPL). Alongside contemporary artworks, it presents previously unseen and rarely exhibited material drawn from the personal archives and collections of artists, musicians, designers and activists who helped shape punk, charting the movement’s origins, evolution and lasting cultural influence.

Exhibition runs until 22nd November 2026, Wed – Sun, 12 – 6pm

Museum of Youth Culture, 51 St Pancras Way, London NW1 0PU

Please check the museum’s website for full details before visiting

Published 3rd November 2026