EXHIBITION – March – April 2019 at Goldsmiths’ College

The event was inspired by the original Golddream Arts’ Festival in June 1969, a week of music, art and poetry.

“Malcolm McLaren was largely responsible for the event that took off in a way that few would have imagined on its first, fairly chaotic day. By the end of the week it had attracted the attention of the media and a significant number of the student population of London. Big name bands such as King Crimson performed, on what is now the College Green, against a backdrop of the main College building, which was apparently being reduced to rubble through the magic of strobe lighting and oil-bath projection. The Small Hall hosted poetry readings by Ron Geesin, and other radicals of the era spoke to the assembled masses. Meanwhile the Quadrangle hosted The Trinidadians Steel Band, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, alongside various circus events”. Dave Riddle, The Way We Were, 2011

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The exhibition of David Bracher’s iconic photographs, taken from his book ‘The Way We Were’ and David Riddle’s posters culminated in the final event on Saturday 13th April 2019. The day was filled with activities that brought back the spirit of the Summer of Love, including ‘The Way We Were’, a panel discussion featuring David Riddle and David Bracher, chaired by Professor Tim Crook, College Historian. There was also an auction of reproduction gig posters and David Bracher’s photographs with the proceeds given to the Student Hardship Fund. A huge thank-you goes to the organisers: Vivienne Rose and her team (especially Katie Yates and Kevin Self for producing and setting up the exhibits). Thanks also to Kevin Self and Paul de’Athe who contributed additional photos of the day.

The 1960s and 1970s concert and club posters took visitors back to an era when some of the biggest names in rock, blues and folk played the London’s Students’ Unions. At Goldsmiths’ the artists performed in the Great and the Small Halls and in the 1969 Golddream event, also played in the quadrangle and on the playing field. Many of the bands and artists who performed across the city’s campuses went on to achieve global stardom including Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple, Procol Harum, Manfred Mann, John Martyn, King Crimson, Ambrose Slade (later Slade) and many more.