London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

From Shakespeare to Ian Curtis: British pop archive to open in Manchester

From Shakespeare to Ian Curtis: British pop archive to open in Manchester

Exclusive: John Rylands Research Institute and Library to house collection that will also include Granada TV treasures

An archive’s fabulous treasures, including a Gutenberg Bible, a Shakespeare first folio and the oldest known fragment of the New Testament, are to be joined by Ian Curtis’s handwritten lyrics for Joy Division’s She’s Lost Control and a wealth of material that shines light on Granada TV.

The John Rylands Research Institute and Library in Manchester has announced plans for the British Pop Archive (BPA), which it hopes will become the national collection for all aspects of postwar popular culture.

It essentially argues that Weatherfield is as important as Middlemarch and that Curtis should be treated as reverentially as Shakespeare.

“Obviously … why wouldn’t you?” said Jon Savage, the recently appointed professor of popular culture at the University of Manchester and one of the driving forces behind the project. “But it is a kind of false equivalence. It’s very easy to look at artefacts from 400 years ago and say that’s really important. What we are saying is this is important now. Maybe if more people had kept material from Shakespeare’s time it wouldn’t just be Shakespeare that we’re talking about.”

Ian Curtis’s handwritten lyrics to She’s Lost Control, c1979.


Pop culture had long been treated with the seriousness it deserved, Savage said. “People really put their heart and soul into it so why wouldn’t you take it seriously?”

The collection will include the archive of Rob Gretton, the manager who oversaw the transition of Joy Division into New Order and was a meticulous record-keeper, according to Hannah Barker, the director of the John Rylands institute and a professor of British history.

“He kept everything. The archive is enormous, it took up an entire cellar. I never knew Rob, but I’m assuming he kept these things because he knew they were important.”

Barker said the idea for a popular culture archive began to form in her head in 2018 after the deaths of Mark E Smith and Pete Shelley. “Because I’m a historian who works in archives, I remember thinking: ‘I wonder what happens if these guys had no archive.’”

She met Savage and the project started to take off. She also read a call in the Guardian by Jill Furmanovsky, one of the UK’s most celebrated music photographers, for a dedicated British rock photography archive.

The John Rylands research institute and library.


“You know when you feel like the universe is whispering to you,” said Barker.

Many discussions have been taking place, including with the photographer Kevin Cummins who also has a pair of Hacienda trainers, boxed and unworn in his archive. “I know,” Barker said. “Imagine what a Chorlton dad would do with those.”

Also part of the collection will be the archive of Granada TV, shining light on its dazzling roster of programmes including Coronation Street, World in Action, Prime Suspect and, for people who could only dream about going out, The Hitman and Her.

Savage said there were a lot of pop and youth culture holdings across the UK, but he believed this would be the first specifically designated pop culture archive. “The reason is obvious really, pop culture has been incredibly fertile in these islands in the post-war period.”

Manchester, with its rich popular culture history, is the obvious home for the collection, say its supporters, and it will launch on 19 May with a Manchester-flavoured exhibition of stand-out objects.

The intention though is for it to be a national collection and lots of discussions were going on about acquiring archives, said Barker, who wants to challenge “the default assumption that things should go to London, that a national collection should be based in London”.

I’d like to question that,” she said. “There’s a lot going on under the surface, there are lots of conversations and negotiations. We’ve got big ambitions.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×