Youth clubs and cultural spaces have long provided young people with a place to connect, socialize and try new things. They have had a huge but almost invisible effect on music, culture and society. Yet, over the past two decades, many have disappeared due to funding cuts and shifting priorities. The question of how such spaces are organized, financed and sustained is therefore more urgent than ever.
In this podcast, the third in a series of conversations recorded at Le Guess Who?’s Sound & Culture Summit, the cultural significance of youth clubs across Europe and the UK is discussed, both in terms of their historical influence and their current state of operation in the present.
You can listen below or via your favorite podcast app.
'Up The Youth Club’ is moderated by Emma Warren, the author of Up The Youth Club, the book on which this program is loosely based. The conversation features Frank Kimenai, who shares his experiences from the perspective of a decades long music industry practitioner and was involved in a youth club himself in the 90s, and Dina Ziad-Westmaas, who is currently a youth facilitator and co-founder of OP&, a platform and presentation space in Utrecht.
Audio recording by Marc Broer
Editing by Margaret Munchheimer
Photography by Noah Schielen
