Not currently on display at the V&A

First International Pop Festival 1968 (European)

Poster
1968 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This poster was designed by design duo Michael English and Nigel Waymouth, known as Hapshash and the Coloured Coat. In the late 1960s they created psychedelic posters for many of the English bands of the time, and decorated and advertised Nigel Waymouth's King's Road boutique, Granny Takes a Trip. They also designed for concerts held at the UFO club and Saville Theatre, and for underground magazine Oz. Their influences came from the decorative and eroticised designs of Art Nouveau, combined with the melting rainbow colours of LSD visions and pop art inspirations from the post-war media; traces of Disney, horror movie monsters and comic book characters and can often be seen hiding amongst the images.

The First International Pop Festival 1968 (1º festival internazionale in europa di musica pop 1968) was a Rock and Pop festival held in Rome to rival the USA's Monteray Pop, Miami Pop and Newport Pop festivals of 1968. This was arranged amidst campus occupation by students at the University of Rome and riots breaking out because students were stopped from marching on the US Embassy in protest of the Vietnam war. Performers included Captain Beefheart, Donovan, Julie Driscoll, Pink Floyd and on the third day, The Move, whom set fire to the stage with their pyrotechnics and were arrested by the police. The festival had been scheduled to last a week, but after that performance the Palazzetto dello Sport was shut by the authorities and the festival was over.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleFirst International Pop Festival 1968 (European) (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Offset lithography on paper.
Brief description
Poster for International Pop Festival, Rome 1968. Michael English collection.
Physical description
Printed colour poster, illustrated and airbrushed psychedelic design, featuring space imagery and eagles. Advertising the First International Pop Festival 1968 (European) Rome.
Dimensions
  • Height: 73.5cm
  • Width: 51.8cm
  • Height: 737mm
  • Width: 616mm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • First International Pop Festival 1968 / (European) / Palazzo Dello Sport - Eur - Rome - May 4 To 10 . 1968
  • HAPSHASH AND THE COLOURED COAT
Credit line
Given by Michael English
Summary
This poster was designed by design duo Michael English and Nigel Waymouth, known as Hapshash and the Coloured Coat. In the late 1960s they created psychedelic posters for many of the English bands of the time, and decorated and advertised Nigel Waymouth's King's Road boutique, Granny Takes a Trip. They also designed for concerts held at the UFO club and Saville Theatre, and for underground magazine Oz. Their influences came from the decorative and eroticised designs of Art Nouveau, combined with the melting rainbow colours of LSD visions and pop art inspirations from the post-war media; traces of Disney, horror movie monsters and comic book characters and can often be seen hiding amongst the images.

The First International Pop Festival 1968 (1º festival internazionale in europa di musica pop 1968) was a Rock and Pop festival held in Rome to rival the USA's Monteray Pop, Miami Pop and Newport Pop festivals of 1968. This was arranged amidst campus occupation by students at the University of Rome and riots breaking out because students were stopped from marching on the US Embassy in protest of the Vietnam war. Performers included Captain Beefheart, Donovan, Julie Driscoll, Pink Floyd and on the third day, The Move, whom set fire to the stage with their pyrotechnics and were arrested by the police. The festival had been scheduled to last a week, but after that performance the Palazzetto dello Sport was shut by the authorities and the festival was over.
Collection
Accession number
S.26-1978

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Record createdFebruary 24, 2010
Record URL
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