Sweet Harmony: Radio, Rave & Waltham Forest, 1989-1994 began as a research project by us in 2019. Originally funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, the most recent part of the project is being funded by Waltham Forest Council.

The exhibition presents this research and looks at a significant five-year period in the UK dance music history and the contribution that young people living and working in the London Borough of Waltham Forest at the time made to it. Previously undocumented, Rendezvous Projects are now bringing these stories to life, celebrating them and preserving them for future generations.

As both local history and an index of subcultural heat, ‘Sweet Harmony’ succeeds brilliantly.
Derek Walmsley, The Wire (Feb ’22)

The exhibition includes much of the materials collected and work made to date, including oral histories, photographs, video, audio, flyers and ephemera, as well as rare hand-painted banners designed by local company Bannerama and original printed magazine Ravescene. Off-site works include audio and video interventions in the spaces where council estates once emitted radio stations, or where clubs now stand empty. A series of events will also take place throughout the exhibition, and the results of a series of workshops with local young people that introduced them to sampling, mixing and audio equipment of the time will be shown.

Over 30 oral histories have been recorded with people who made significant contributions to this scene and the borough’s cultural heritage, and so far include Chelsea-Louise Berlin, Cool Hand Flex, Linden C, Andy Clockwork, Dlux, DJ Rap, Vicki Edwards, Stephen Hebditch, Ronnie Herel, Gordon Mac, MC Navigator, Jessie Grace Mellor, Roger the Doctor, Slipmatt, Tim Strudwick, Uncle 22 and Warlock.

Prior to this project there was very little record of the borough’s contribution either online or in print. Rendezvous Projects look to redress this balance, celebrating, highlighting and recording the hard work, creative entrepreneurship and talent of the people involved, and putting the protagonists’ own voices at the heart of the story.

The limited edition 24 page booklet with fold-out map and poster will be reprinted to accompany the exhibition. With a second limited print run of 1,000 copies is designed by Claudia Schenk of Trockenbrot and printed by Aldgate Press.

Dates of exhibition
25 November 2021 to 2 October 2022. Entry is free.

Opening hours Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm.

Vestry House Museum
Vestry Road, Walthamstow
London E17 9NH