Sweet Harmony: Rave Today

The acid house movement in late ‘80s and early ‘90s Britain left behind a legacy so strong that many of it’s features can still be widely observed today. 

The iconic “smiley face” symbol continues to be plastered on club flyers as a calling card for hedonistic nightlife. Parliament’s 1994 law to ban public performance of music “wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” served as the basis to the film ‘Beats’ this year. And only two months prior, the nation mourned the death of The Prodigy’s Keith Flint – one of the most recognisable faces of the scene.

Sweet Harmony: Rave Today is an immersive exhibition opening this month at the Saatchi Gallery that offers an insight into rave culture through the voices and lenses of those who experienced it. It features the work of artists like Jeremy Deller, the Turner-Prize-winning founder of musical fusion project Acid Brass, and influential photographers such as Ewen Spencer and Dave Swindells. It offers an in-depth look into the history and impact of one of the most vibrant youth movements in recent memory, with a soundtrack that spans Detroit techno, happy hardcore and UK garage.

Sweet Harmony: Rave Today runs until September 14th, 2019 at the Saatchi Gallery.