In Lyon, the “Contre-bande” exhibition explores the alternative musical cultures of the 80s and 90s

Between the beginning of the 80s and the end of the 90s, the European music sector was enriched by several emerging alternative movements, such as punk or industrial music. In this same dynamic of rejection of the dominant culture, young generations of self-taught artists give free rein to their unbridled creativity.

A valuable and intuitive counter-culture punctuated by objects that will become emblematic of an era: audio cassettes, analog instruments (synthesizers, drum machines and effects) and also portable tape recorders. Technological jewels that allowed musicians to share their creations. For them, no need to have followed a musical course to make music, or to have a good stroke of the pencil to draw. It is this spirit that the Part-Dieu Library in Lyon restores through the exhibition Smuggling.

10,000 recordings, cassettes, vinyls and CDs are brought together in this free event, as are illustrated handwritten letters and photographs. The library’s collection brings together mostly handmade works from this unbridled counter-culture. “Counter-culture, at the time, it was a term which was still protesting and which was charged with a militant meaning. It is important to remember this, as it is important to do things for oneself- himself and to defend his own ideas”develops Simon Debarbieux, curator of the exhibition.

Historical riffs

The exhibition also focuses on the networks that the followers of this alternative music scene have been able to weave. Groups in the Lyon region exchange, for example, by post with Spaniards or New Yorkers. Since 2009, the music department has been collecting the precious objects of this musical “contra-band”.