Exploring history together is the aim of the Schools and Community Learning team – we develop inspiring workshops and projects that open up our world-renowned library collections and engage with learners of varied ages and backgrounds.
To tie in with the Back to the 80s events we want to know what the decade meant to those who were there – and those who weren’t. What personal recollections do you have from the decade of Thatcher, New Romantics and red braces? If you didn’t live through the 80s, how do you think the decade’s events and attitudes have affected you? Your thoughts, memories, and memorabilia could become part of our next exhibition at Bishopsgate Institute.
As Liz (Schools & Community Learning Manager) recalls: ‘My parents subscribed to New Internationalist and supported Greenpeace so magazines from these organisations were my childhood reading – even though I couldn’t understand all the nuances. In the late 80s Iceland, Norway and Japan continued whale hunting despite international bans on commercial whaling. Greenpeace started a boycott of Icelandic frozen fish fingers and as a result of promising to not buy the fish I received the certificate pictured. I didn’t even like fish fingers!’
We are holding two ‘Remembering the 80s’ events, where you can explore relevant items from our library and archive collections, speak to one of our oral history volunteers and share your experiences of the 80s with us.
Remembering the 80s:
Friday 19 October, 2.30pm – 4.30pm, Library
Tuesday 23 October, 6.30pm – 7.15pm, Rear Library
If you have any memorabilia and mementos we could use in the exhibition – this could be photographs, badges, certificates, fanzines, concert tickets, election leaflets, alternative lifestyle pamphlets, anything that reflects your activities and interests in the 80s – please bring it along!
The resulting exhibition, a collage of images and words about the 1980s, will be on display December 2012 – January 2013.
If you’re not able to attend one of the events but would like to contribute, please email us your images and memories by 25 October.