The Clash's Mick Jones shares his Rock & Roll collection for the ages

"From the exhibition to the pages of its magazine, RRPL maintains a strong thematic structure. "Mick's thinking is that the magazine is like a record and that each article is a track," Kirk says, "So we work on the ordering of the pages, how they flow, in the same way he would've worked on the track listing for an album." Cohesion and narrative are RRPL's foundational elements. The room was carved into a dead tech section playing old clips, a theatrical rendition of a traditional British living room, a dedication to The Clash's love for New York's burgeoning hip-hop scene, songwriting artefacts, news clippings, a record library, and more."

"In 2009, it was Mick's old friend Jane Ashley that encouraged him to bring his personal collection to the public. This led to his first show at Chelsea Art School's Chelsea Space, co-curated by Jane with Donald Smith, Crispin Chetwynd, Gordon McHarg III and Leo Williams. The follow-up featured a recording studio where Mick produced the band's early tracks. After a few more iterations, Rock & Roll Public Library was officially born in 2015 with the efforts of Mick's daughter Lauren Estelle Jones and curator James Putnam, marked by the 56th Biennale de Venezia and, later, 2019's showing at Museo Jumex in México City. Mick's collection then moved from West London to St. Leonards-On-Sea, which subsequently set the new archival system in motion."

"Though the collection spans decades, RRPL chooses anemoia over nostalgia. "What we hope to do by mixing objects from different eras and juxtaposing items that may not immediately seem to connect is to show that there is an ongoing continuum of influence and inspiration," Kirk shares. Page 35 of the magazine reads, "Scarcity wields potency in its authenticity." These items are snapshots and windows into fleeting moments."

RRPL maintains a strong thematic structure across exhibitions and its magazine, treating each article like a track whose ordering shapes flow. Exhibitions are arranged into curated rooms featuring dead tech clips, a theatrical British living room, dedications to The Clash's ties to New York hip-hop, songwriting artefacts, news clippings, and a record library. The collection began when Mick opened his personal archive to the public in 2009 and evolved through iterative shows into an institutional project founded in 2015, with international presentations and a relocation that prompted a new archival system. The project favors anemoia over nostalgia, juxtaposing eras to trace ongoing influence.

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