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All Iceland Reykjavik Icelandic Punk Museum

Icelandic Punk Museum

This tiny museum's sizable collection is jammed into a former underground public toilet.

Reykjavik, Iceland

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Museum Entrance, down bellow in a former public restroom.   PureGuava / Atlas Obscura User
Part of the collection.   Priti Shikotra
In the washroom.   Priti Shikotra
It chronicles the punk scene in Iceland (as much as they can hold).   Priti Shikotra
Sugar Cubes, Sex Pistols…   Priti Shikotra
All of the exhibits are in former stalls or wash-up areas.   Priti Shikotra
Inside one of the galleries.   Priti Shikotra
Part of the collection.   Priti Shikotra
And Johnny Rotten.   Priti Shikotra
June 19, 2023  
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June 19, 2023   alittlebrowndog / Atlas Obscura User
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Drum kit that visitors can bang on   cguttery / Atlas Obscura User
  cicconerobot / Atlas Obscura User
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Our Icelandic Rocker   staciday / Atlas Obscura User
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Pönksafn Íslands   Jaszmina Szendrey / Atlas Obscura User
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  allisont13 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In November 2016, this former public toilet, once known as “ground zero” to locals, was reopened in downtown Reykjavik to do what it was maybe always meant to do: tell the story of Icelandic punk.

Down below Bankastræti, not far from the harbor docks, this tiny museum is dedicated to the Nordic nation's punk scene, from its beginnings in the late 1970s all the way to the break-up of the Sugar Cubes in the early '90s. The exhibits are in the former toilets and washbasins, with a jammed-in collection of photos, posters, handbills, instruments, stage equipment, and streaming videos of classic club shows.

The collection covers performances from visiting bands as well as homegrown talent like Sigur Ros. You can listen to Icelandic punk records through the museum's pull-down headphones, or get really campy and try on some jackets and strike a pose with the guitars and drum set. When the museum first opened its doors (stalls?), on hand to kick it off was Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten himself. The photos to prove it are on display.

Related Tags

Museums Museums And Collections Music Punk

Know Before You Go

The museum is in a former underground restroom in downtown Reykjavík. It is open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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Added By

PureGuava

Edited By

allisont13, rwesty8, jokapje, Jaszmina Szendrey...

  • allisont13
  • rwesty8
  • jokapje
  • Jaszmina Szendrey
  • cicconerobot
  • SEANETTA
  • cguttery
  • staciday
  • ShotgunProse
  • tmcc784
  • Bimblefaff
  • alittlebrowndog
  • jyackabonis
  • Julius Spada
  • Gogostevie

Published

March 24, 2017

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Sources
  • https://www.facebook.com/Bankastraeti0/
  • https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g189970-d11842261-Reviews-The_Icelandic_Punk_Museum-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html
  • http://grapevine.is/culture/music/2016/11/11/keep-it-underground-the-icelandic-punk-museum-opens/
  • https://www.facebook.com/wayfaringviews/videos/672463836429966/
Icelandic Punk Museum
2 Bankastræti
Reykjavik
Iceland
64.146944, -21.935801
Visit Website
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