Dear Readers,

Punk was never just a style of music. It was, and remains, an attitude: loud, uncompromising, self-empowered, and deeply skeptical of everything we’re told can’t be changed. Since the 1970s, punk has dismantled conventions, rewritten the rules, and inspired generations to create their own spaces and communities. Its influence reaches far beyond music, leaving a lasting mark on art, fashion, politics, and everyday life.

The Goethe-Institut project Alle gegen Alles: Punk@50 and our accompanying issue of GEGENÜBER trace the many paths of that movement. It’s a story of upheaval and resistance, of subculture and community, of attitude, humor, and the desire to be different. Rather than offering a polished anniversary narrative, our dossier brings together diverse perspectives on a cultural phenomenon that has consistently resisted being pinned down.

This issue was created in collaboration with Kaput – Magazin für Insolvenz und Pop, whose impeccably good instincts for contemporary art, counterculture and the politics of pop lends a distinct edge to the contributions. Together, we ask: What remains of punk when rebellion becomes history, and why is its attitude more necessary than ever today? 

We are interested in the people, places, and ideas that have continually reinvented punk and carried it across generations, borders, and social contexts. The result is a portrait of punk not as a closed chapter in pop history, but as a source of cultural energy that feels surprisingly at home in the present: unruly, creative, sometimes irritating, sometimes inspiring, and still difficult to tame.

Read about it in the language of your choice: English, French, German, or Spanish. 

Punk Is Not Dead. It’s 50!

Your GEGENÜBER Editorial Team