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Update: 8th Apr. 2024



Seana Gavin:
Hidden Tracks
- A Decade of Free Parties








The free party movement emerged in the UK in the 1990s as a reaction to the excessive commercialization of Acid House. The 1992 Castlemorton Festival in Malvern Hills is often regarded as the icon of the movement, characterized by its spontaneity, illegality, and freeness, unlike the expensive outdoor raves featuring prominent artists. Several sound systems were brought and set up, attracting between 20,000 to 50,000 people through word-of-mouth communication in an era when neither cell phones nor the Internet were widely accessible. The party continued for about a week until it was shut down by the police.

Seana Gavin, who was still in her teens, became part of this subculture the following year. Over the next decade until 2003, she was deeply involved in this scene, traveling in her friends' mobile homes, in convoy with the sound systems and living in nomadic communities, while attending raves and parties across Europe.

“It was more than just a night out. I wasn’t a photographer or journalist I was part of this world and these people were my family. We were un-materialistic and survived with minimal funds without limitations.”





The exhibition Hidden Tracks: A decade of free parties, held at Gallery46 in London from April 10th to 28th, will feature numerous photographs capturing the build-up and aftermath of the raves, including the characters and friends who defined this scene, alongside Gavin's personal documentation such as flyers and diary entries. In essence, this exhibition serves as a documentation of the people, creativity, and alternative way of living that shaped an extremely underground scene, demonstrating its ethos of community and freedom.


Seana Gavin

Seana Gavin, a graduate of Camberwell College of Art, had solo exhibitions at galeriepcp, Paris (2019), Celestine Eleven, London (2014) and the B Store on Savile Row, London (2011). Her work has been included in group exhibitions at international art galleries and institutions including The Nobel Prize Museum, Somerset House, Fundacao de Serralves, The Walker Art Gallery, the Wellcome Collection, New York’s The Hole and at ‘Sweet Harmony: Rave Today’ at the Saatchi Gallery in 2019.
Her monograph ‘Spiralled’ was published by IDEA books in 2020, which was selected as ‘Work of the Week’ by Art Review. A profile of her work was included in ‘The Age of Collage 3’, published by Gestalten (2020). She is also the author of the forward to Mark Angelo Harrison’s document of Spiral Tribe, ‘A Darker Electricity’ (2023).




 

Seana Gavin: Hidden Tracks - A Decade of Free Parties
Period: April 10 (Wed) - 28 (Sun) 2024
Venue: Gallery46
Venue: 46 Ashfield St, London E1 2AJ
Venue: www.gallery46.co.uk
Venue: @gallery46whitechapel


Seana Gavin 
Spiralled (3rd Edition)
Published by IDEA
www.ideanow.online/spiralled2023

All images © of their respective owners.