A PROJECT charting Newport's place in music history has received an "overwhelmingly positive" response in the city.

Newport Rock Collecting is a social history and contemporary collections project, created by Winding Snake Productions in partnerships with Newport Museum & Art Gallery with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Since 2018 the team at Winding Snake Productions have been gathering stories and artefacts from gigs in Newport between 1970 and 2010 for an audio archive and exhibition, celebrating Newport’s music heritage.

With the launch of the exhibition on February 28, Newport Rock Collecting has attracted more than 1,500 visitors to the museum to date.

The exhibition features contributions from 60ft Dolls, Jon Langford, Goldie Lookin’ Chain, Elastica, Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers, Dub War, Idles and Joe Strummer.

Also featured are a series of short animations by Welsh and Wales based animators, recreating memories from the audio archive.

Project manager Glen Biseker said: “My own experiences of going to gigs started in Newport over 20 years ago.

"Hearing others talk about the scenes, venues, bands and culture they were part of really highlights how important the city has been to new music and established performers.

“Since the exhibition’s opening the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

"The pandemic and its knock-on effects caused delays but the wait has been worth it.

"Projects and celebrations of heritage like this start the conversations and records the stories we are close to forgetting.

"You can see the pride in people as they look around the exhibition remember things and start to share their own memories.” 

The Audio Archive will be available at peoplescollection.wales