Museum of Youth Culture to open in Camden Town in December

The new 6,500 sqft venue at St Pancras Campus in Georgiana Street will house a trailblazing collection celebrating the everyday histories of teenage life in Britain.

It’s the culmination of two decades spent collecting thousands of items of youth culture including rave flyers, DIY punk zines, band t-shirts, school leavers shirts, shoebox photo archives, and TikTok reels.

The museum will display photographs, clothing, artefacts, oral histories and music clips. (Image: Museum of Youth Culture) Curators will explore how for 100  years, teenagers and their subcultures have shaped music, fashion, and activism – from the bomb-site bicycle racers in post-war 1940s London, to the Acid House ravers of the ’80s and beyond.

The new bricks and mortar permanent home will house a cafe, record store, and three gallery spaces, with two highlighting the permanent collection of artefacts, photographs, sounds, and oral histories, while the third is free for young creatives to exhibit their work.

They promise it will be a Museum “with a little m,” and no “hush-hush corridors or stuffy programming”.

Past exhibitions have been in pop up spaces and included collected photographs, flyers and artefacts charting teenage life. (Image: Fabio De Paola PA) Up to now, the Museum has staged pop up exhibitions in temporary spaces such as I’m Not Okay: An Emo Retrospective, which drew 55,000 visitors to The Barbican, and Growing Up In Britain which is currently on tour to Tokyo.

And they have invited the public to be part of the museum through the Grown up in Britain campaign to submit their own teenage ephemera – from first loves or music fandom.

The new museum will host a programme of talks, community events, and hands-on educational music production workshops to coax new sounds from fresh talent.

“This is more than a place to look back, it’s a space to participate, contribute, and shape the cultural narrative together,” said museum founder Jon Swinstead.

“Camden has been synonymous with music and youth culture for decades, making it the natural home for the Museum. We’re creating a space for stories that have often been overlooked but are essential to understanding who we are.

“Youth culture drives innovation, challenges norms, and creates communities – it’s one of the most powerful forces in society. That’s why it matters. And that’s why we want everyone to be part of it. This isn’t just our museum—it’s yours.”

Following the London launch they plan to open further museums in Birmingham (2027) and Glasgow (2029).

Museum of Youth Culture opens December 2025 at St. Pancras Campus, Georgiana Street, Camden. www.museumofyouthculture.com