Celebrating 2 years of WEIRDO

Celebrating two years since launching their first issue, WEIRDO is hosting an exhibition and panel discussion at the Museum of Youth Culture. The exhibition will showcase photography and writings from the first two issues of their zine celebrating South Asians in punk and other alternative subcultures.

The evening will also include a panel discussion with South Asian people working across the music industry featured in The Music Issue, exploring the past, present and future of South Asians in the alternative and punk scenes to inspire the next generation. Panellists include Laila Khan (Sonic Boom Six) and Dewan-Dean Soomary (Teenage Sequence) and the discussion will be facilitated by music journalist and poet Jay Mitra.

This event brings together South Asian people from alternative subcultures to provide a sense of belonging for South Asian people who have felt like outsiders in the South Asian and/or alternative communities.

Launch: Friday March 25th, 6.30-10pm, Panel at 7.30pm

Exhibition: Friday 25th - Sunday 27th

Address: 154-156 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8HL

WEIRDO is a zine and platform documenting the experiences, perspectives and contributions of South Asian people in the alternative scene. WEIRDO uses ‘alternative’ as an umbrella term for subcultures such as punk and goth. Alternative South Asians remain largely underrepresented in the mainstream, alternative, and South Asian spheres, notably, in fashion, beauty and music. Therefore, WEIRDO aims to expand the one-dimensional representation of South Asian people beyond stereotypes through photography, personal essays, interviews and more. The first issue – Identity and Community in British Subculture - was released in March 2020 and was a collection of essays, interviews, artwork and photography from the South Asian diaspora in the UK. The Music Issue is the second issue which was released in November 2021, highlighting the contributions of South Asian people in alternative music in response to the lack of South Asian representation in this scene.

Photo by Arhantika Rebello