Rockers and artists of all ages gathered at The Powerhouse on Sunday evening in the spirit of counterculture.
Hosted by the Southern Punk Archive, the Punk Flea Market Matinee gave local craftspeople a space to showcase and sell their art to the community, accompanied by performances from Secret Shame, Waxed and Punks in Drag in addition to a screening of the film “Big Clown: Mississippi Creates” by Christina Huff.
Featured artworks included handmade jewelry and clothing, collage art, zines and stickers. Because accessibility is a central idea of the punk movement, most sellers kept their prices low and in some cases gave away their work for free.
John Rash, founder of the Southern Punk Archive and assistant professor of film production and Southern studies, shared that the Punk Flea Market Matinee and other Southern Punk Archive events create a unique space for a diverse, multigenerational group of people.
“I’ve had quite a number of high school students find me and comment to me that they live here in Oxford and that this is the only event that happens in town that they actually are interested in attending and that they’re very thankful that this event has been happening,” Rash said. “That has been a true inspiration for me to keep it going because I was that person. At one point in my life, I was looking for underground culture, underground music, and it was very hard to find where I grew up.”
Vendor and artist John Stack echoed Rash, expressing the importance of events like the Punk Flea Market to the Oxford community.
“It lets everyone know that they have a place, regardless of age. People can come here and express themselves, and we can express ourselves,” Stack said.
This archive is one of the many projects deriving from the Southern Documentary Project.
The Southern Documentary Project was started by professor Andy Harper at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, an institute that focuses on documenting the stories of the American South through film, photography and audio documentary.
Rash focuses specifically on punk in the South.
“We’re simultaneously documenting contemporary culture and the sound while also gathering archival materials that go to live at the library permanently. It truly is an archival project, in the sense that there’s physical items at the library that people could visit,” Rash said. “This includes photographs, records and the videos that are curated by myself and then housed by the library. The other side of it is the films and videos that I’m making as part of my collaboration with the Southern Documentary Project.”
The Punk Flea Market will return in December for the holidays and in the spring before the Double Decker Arts Festival with “Punker Decker,” an event that serves as an alternative for those who may be more interested in underground music that is absent from Double Decker’s lineup.
For those unable to attend, you can get a glimpse of the Punk Flea Market with the following video. (Shot and Edited by Will Jones)
