Punk project supported by University of Leicester expert nominated for major National Lottery Award
Credit: Josie Parr and Ian Davies
A University of Leicester-supported, acclaimed exhibition celebrating the UK’s punk scene has been nominated for a National Lottery Award 2023.
Punk: Rage and Revolution, was exhibited at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery over the summer.
The exhibition told the story of the 1970s UK Punk scene through original objects, clothing, information panels and ephemera.
It focussed on the key year of 1977 - when the Queen’s Silver Jubilee spectacularly clashed with the Punk explosion notoriously led by The Sex Pistols. It also examined earlier influences and the post-Punk era of New Wave and beyond.
Dr Emma Parker, Associate Professor of English at the University of Leicester, acted as a contributor and an ambassador for the project. Dr Parker is an expert on twentieth-century and contemporary literature, gender studies and Joe Orton.
Earlier this month, Punk: Rage and Revolution won a National Lottery Heritage Award for England, meaning it is now been shortlisted for National Lottery Project of the Year at the National Lottery Awards 2023.
The winner, voted for by the public, will receive a £5,000 cash prize and a coveted National Lottery Awards trophy.
Dr Emma Parker said: “It’s fantastic to see Punk: Rage and Revolution win the National Lottery Award for Heritage (England) but winning Project of the Year will really help to highlight Leicester’s contribution to culture and put the city on the map.”
Jonathan Tuchner, from the National Lottery, said: “We’re so pleased to have received so many nominations highlighting the excellent work that National Lottery-funded projects are doing up and down the UK.
“All of these projects are making an incredible impact in their local community, and they thoroughly deserve to be in the finals of the National Lottery Awards Project of the Year 2023.”
To vote, please go to the National Lottery website. Voting runs until noon on 9 October.