The 1980s: Image of a Decade

Start with the exuberance of graffiti, breakdancing and boom boxes on the subway, the beeps and bloops of new electronic game consoles, and Jane Fonda’s pastel leotards and legwarmers. Skip forward from the first space shuttle to the first episode of The Simpsons, from Jean-Michel Basquiat to Gordon Gekko, from shoulder pads to smiley faces. Witness the establishment of an assertive new gay culture and club scene, the unrivalled global gathering of the Live Aid concerts, and the equally strident fight against apartheid. Listen to the reverberation of cultural decibels rising across the globe and shaking society’s foundations, from Madrid’s La Movida to the Soviet Union’s Perestroika and the fall of the Berlin Wall.