Punk has spent 50 years refusing to behave. Now, some of its history hangs neatly on gallery walls: “NO PUNK. NO FUTURE.” A new exhibition at the Goethe-Institute connects Kiel, Germany and San Francisco. The exhibit, which opened Sept. 10th, brings together eight Goethe-Institut locations across the United States and Mexico to celebrate the 50 years of punk culture: a force of energy, political charge and resistance rather than a closed chapter of music history. Alexander Behrmann, director of the Goethe-Institut San Francisco, “Punk is about the attitude,” he said. “It’s about sometimes not giving a shit. Sometimes it’s questioning authority and resistance.”
The crowd at the opening dressed in mostly black, with noticeable pops of red cutting through the crowd. Near the entrance, a table with copies of “We’re Having Much More Fun,” a punk archive book by Judith A. Peraino and Tom McEnaney and “HAIL MURRAY!” A book of Bay Area Punk photography by Murray Bowles and “Gimme Something Better,” the Bay Area punk history by journalist and author Jack Boulware. The opening of the gallery included a conversation with 1979 German post-punk band NO MORE (Andy A. Schwarz and Tina Sanudakura) and Boulware, touching on bands that inspired them, scenes that raised them and punks’ uneasy relationship with authority—on both sides of the Atlantic. Bit Chin, an attendee at the opening, said, “I saw this on Oakland Review of Books, they have a newsletter … I’ve always been interested in punk but I’m really not into the scene.”
When asked what visitors unfamiliar with punk culture should take from this, Schwarz said “It’s not for understanding… if you’re interested check it out.” Mention of bands like, Stiff Little Fingers, Tuxedo Moon, The Clash and the Ramones drew nods of agreement throughout the room. Boulware brought up the Ramones’ 1976 show at the The Savoy Tivoli in San Francisco which was described as “the birthplace of punk in San Francisco;” several audience members called out that they were in attendance at that show. “Everyone who attended the Ramones’ show at The Savoy started a band,” Boulware joked. The conversation was about do-it-yourself (DIY) culture and the role zines played in spreading ideas and music before algorithms and streaming services did the work. A comparison between the Sex Pistols and the Bay City Rollers got one of the biggest laughs of the night.
The gallery covers roughly a decade within the late 1970s to the mid 1980s, it includes vinyl records from various punk bands: everything from the Dead Kennedys, Dead Facts to Extrabreit and Nina Hagen. A Frightwig journal entry titled “Wigs in Europe; white trash abroad” lined the wall side by side, alongside posters from punk shows in both Kiel and San Francisco. Photographs of NO MORE, playing at shows, hanging out with friends and close ups of pins on a leather jacket stating “Nazis are No Fun” adorned the wall as well.
After 50 years, Punk is still not something that can be put neatly in a box.. “[Punk is about] expressing yourself, not conforming to what’s common. Just doing something you have the best of whatever ability you have” said attendee Apollo LiftOff while enjoying the complimentary pizza and beer. Punk is still alive and well, it’s wrestled with history and reinvention but it’s a force of energy that lives beyond just the music and nostalgia.
“NO PUNK. NO FUTURE.” will be exhibited from Sept. 10th – Dec. 12th, 2026 at the Goethe-Institut San Francisco on Howard St. and is free and open to the public.
