Glastonbury’s Rogues Gallery

A while back I began to wonder where all the young people were and if Glastonbury was just some sort of anachronism, us old hippies destined to die out like the dinosaurs, taking our foolish ideas about love, peace and community with us. In this Age of Austerity, student loans and Generation Rent, I wondered if anyone who wasn’t comfortably retired had the time for community or art, let alone rainbows, whimsy or dancing / protesting in the streets.

I’ve had reason for hope recently though. The Open Day at Beckery Village, the Skate Jam, the many from Glastonbury who attended the XR Rebellion in London, all green shoots springing up through the grey fog of life in nearly Brexit Britain. It feels to me that Glastonbury Town is undergoing a sort of grass roots cultural rebirth, in which ‘the young’ are fully engaged.

Freshly Hatched Hippies and Old Misfits

When I arrived here in ’93 my mates were having kids, now their kids are having kids. I’m fascinated to see how these third, or sometimes 4th generation hippy kids are going to turn out. It’s fair to say I’m really impressed to see that slightly chaotic hippy parents, who were determined to bring their kids up as differently to their own upbringing as possible, have generally managed to produce really well adjusted, kind and clever children. I have noticed that the ones who were barefoot and dreadlocked as toddlers are generally pretty tidy nowadays! Rebellion often takes the form of boundaries and good jobs. Meanwhile, other young people are arriving in Glastonbury ‘freshly hatched hippies’, finding out where they fit in with the other misfits.

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Rogues Gallery

Further encouragement for positivity came in the form of a message from one of the team at Rogues Gallery on the High Street. They stock an eclectic range of stuff – secondhand vinyl records, brightly coloured clothes, the wonderfully simple AVA LON hoodies, spray paint, super-hot chilli sauces, Glastonbury mugs, art, cards, jewellery, all made by a collective of creative, mostly young, people.

I knew they collaborated with Styles of Somerset to create the 3rd annual Paint Jam – a ‘Concrete Picnic’ bringing life and colour to Beckery Island, Glastonbury’s former industrial wasteland. With the artists collective MOA they were responsible for many of the murals adorning Glastonbury walls.

Dear Normal for Glastonbury….

“I guess you know we are the fiends responsible (with MOA) for the seasonal graffiti on the Crown and the murmuration mural at the top of town that was so controversial… We are a collective of local handmade designers and artists. All the garments in the shop are either handmade, upcycled or short runs from indie printers (t-shirts ‘n’ hoodies)… plus handmade jewellery, hats, accessories and gorgeous art from local artists. We’re currently featuring work by Rowena Draper, Innerspiral, MissChievious Gladrags, John Mason, and Oli Crafts Blanka (creator of the snail hats!) as well as many others.

One of A Kind Festival Glamour

We’re trying to get the word out that we are the place to come for one of a kind festival glamour as well as original art. Conscious fashion, slow fashion. No single use plastic tents! Investing in an item to treasure forever that brings you confidence and joy!

We just had the most brilliant photoshoot with John Mason and I thought you might be interested in seeing some of the results…”

You can find more information on the shop’s facebook page Rogue’s Gallery. Their opening hours are generally 10.30 to 5pm (except Sunday when they open at 11am). Unless……

I’m happy to promote what they are doing on here for free, god knows you need some encouragement to carry on being creative nowadays. They’ve kindly offered to stock some Normal For Glastonbury merchandise in return, now I’ve just got to get on and make some……

Photos by Vicki Steward, except the studio ones which were by John Mason. Thanks to Mark from Sonus Magus Music shop for the photo of the notice in the window!.

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