And they’re all about Brum.
We love a good museum in Birmingham, and there’s nothing better than a wander around one of these amazing places on a rainy day. So we were super-excited to hear that Brummies will soon have a couple of new museums to explore, and they both sound incredible. Plus, they’re set to celebrate our wonderful culture, with fresh new exhibits and ideas for the public to ponder.
The first will be The Museum of Youth Culture and the second will be Birmingham Music Museum, set to open in Autumn 2025. Both will be located on the old site of Digbeth Dining Club on Upper Trinity Street, and they’re part of a £260m scheme in Digbeth that will fund both residential and commercial endeavours.
We all know that Birmingham has a rich musical heritage. From Judas Priest to UB40 and Led Zeppelin, many great musical minds have come from this city. However, up until now, there hasn’t really been anywhere to celebrate this heritage and to teach future generations about the brilliance of Birmingham’s musical legacy. Well, that’s about to change as Birmingham Music Museum will permanently exhibit Birmingham’s music archives.
The city also has a rich culture of political and social movements and The Museum of Youth Culture will celebrate and explore the ever-changing cultures of young people. As Brits, we love to talk about “when we were young”, and reminisce about old times when the experiences of young people were so different from those we see today. So it seems like this place will be perfect for charting those changes in society as an important part of history. The museum will take us from post-war Britain all the way through to the modern-day, and it seems that these two museums will perfectly complement one another.
What’s more, you can get involved with Birmingham Music Museum! Birmingham Music Archive (BMA) founder Jez Collins tweeted about the new museums, saying: “The vision for the Birmingham Music Museum is that it exhibits the materials so many of us keep under our beds, in our garages or up in the loft; photos, posters, magazines, tee-shirts, tickets, the demo you recorded at Rich Bitch or Grosvenor Studios. We want to tell the stories of the people of Birmingham and their contribution to local, national and international music culture.
“We want to represent, reflect and inspire the people of Birmingham — we are a city of music. You can help us build and curate the museum by sending in your materials and memories about any aspect of music in Birmingham to jez@birminghammusicarchive.com or via our social accounts.”