Johnny Allen collection of scrapbooks and photographs

MLMSS 12182/Boxes 1-3
MLMSS 12182/Box 4X

fonds

1973-2023

Textual Records, Clippings, Graphic Materials, Photographs

9680863

0.92 metres of textual material (3 boxes and 1 outsize box), includes photographs - manuscript, typescript

John K. Allen, better known as Johnny Allen, was born in Glen Innes in 1943 and grew up in Manly, Sydney. After studying at the University of New South Wales, being involved in theatre and assisting at the rock venue, The Art Factory in Goulburn, he was one of the paid organisers of the 1973 Aquarius Festival in Nimbin, New South Wales. After a year spent in New York City and London as part of the art, music and punk scene, he returned to Sydney and engaged in the counterculture scene, establishing the Paris Theatre at 205-207 Liverpool Street, as well as the Gay Men's Rap and Gay Theatre Company and the first gay film festival in Sydney in 1978. Later, he was the founding director of the Australian College of Event Management at the University of Technology Sydney, as well as being Foundation Event Manager for Darling Harbour and Tourism NSW.

References:
Library acquisition file

Australasian Special Events "2020 Podcast Project: ep 12 Johnny Allen". 7 September 2021. Accessed 9 July 2024. https://www.specialevents.com.au/2020-podcast-project-ep-12-johnny-allen/

City of Sydney, Sydney Oral Histories. 6 November 2018. Accessed 9 July 2024. https://www.sydneyoralhistories.com.au/johnny-allen/

BOX 1
Scrapbooks numbered 1 to 3 of newspaper clippings and original ephemera related to counterculture, predominantly in Darlinghurst, Sydney, between 1977 and 1982, including punk culture, the gay and lesbian community, alternative art and performance, and social movements around feminism, anti-nuclear protests and Aboriginal and First Nations rights. Venues and troupes include the Paris Theatre; Cabaret Conspiracy; All Together Now Enterprises; the Sideshow Theatre Company; Palms Cabaret.

BOX 2
Scrapbooks numbered 4 to 6 of newspaper clippings and original ephemera related to counterculture, predominantly in Darlinghurst, Sydney, between 1977 and 1982, including punk culture, the gay and lesbian community, alternative art and performance, and social movements around feminism, anti-nuclear protests and Aboriginal and First Nations rights. Venues and troupes include the Paris Theatre; Cabaret Conspiracy; All Together Now Enterprises; the Sideshow Theatre Company; Palms Cabaret.

BOX 3
1 ring binder folder "The Johnny Allen Collection ; Correspondence, interviews, articles, magazines and programs" containing handwritten letters, and printed newspaper and magazine clippings.

2 plastic sleeve folders "The Johnny Allen Collection ; A collection of posters, handbills, scrapbooks and ephemera relating to the underground culture of 1970's Sydney and Darlinghurs[t]" and "The Johnny Allen Collection ; Cabaret Conspiracy" containing print-outs and photocopies of ephemera and reminiscences.

1 black plastic sleeve folder containing schedules for public performances including the Sedition Festival and the Paper Tigers exhibition; print-outs and photocopies of photographs and ephemera.

1 blue-edged plastic sleeve folder relating to the Sedition festival 2019 including print-outs of programs and articles, and original ephemera.

1 ring binder plastic sleeve folder "The Johnny Allen Collection ; Exhibitions" containing print-outs of programs and original ephemera.

3 plastic sleeve folders "Who did that bitch think she was?" relating to drag queen Doris Fish containing print-outs of photographs, ephemera and reminiscences.

3 black slide bind-ups of assorted original and photocopied ephemera relating to the Paris Theatre and counterculture entertainment.

1 hand-coloured poster "See Miss 3 D, The Queen of Neon, Ruby Reds, Jan 25", from around 1979. 77 other posters catalogued separately.

BOX 4 (outsize)
1 folder "Carmel, Style Icon". 1 scrapbook of typescript reminiscences and photocopies of photographs relating to the life of Carmel Strelein (1960-1997), a style icon, member of the band The Screaming Abdabs, hairdresser and associate of the drag troupe Sylvia and the Synthetics, active in Sydney and San Francisco during the 1970s-1990s.

2 folders "The Johnny Allen Collection - The Scrapbooks Vol 1; Paris Punk and Gay Sydney" and "The Johnny Allen Collection - The Scrapbooks Vol 2; Cabaret Conspiracy" containing print-outs and photocopies of pages from the original scrapbooks.

1 album of 171 photographic prints of posters displayed in Darlinghurst, Cabaret Conspiracy and the Sideshow Theatre Company.

Copyright restrictions may apply:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder