Bikini Kill
There have been some exciting recent developments regarding the now-defunct Bikini Kill and Kathleen Hanna. Firstly, Kathleen has donated documents, zines, flyers, correspondence and other archived materials to NYU’s Fales Library as part of their new Riot Grrrrl Collection. This is exciting for a number of reasons, such as a) I would love to see them b) The public has access and many more people can see them c) Libraries and other archives are expanding their reach to include documents and parts of history that are outside the mainstream and what would typically be thought of as “important” or academically useful and d) They are an important asset to study involving feminist theory, pop culture, punk history, queer theory, music history, activism, the women’s movement, etc. e) I’d love to see more theses including Kathleen Hanna.
The other news is that Hanna has created an online Bikini Kill archive (aka blog) as a way for fans to post stories or videos about Bikini Kill: Bikini Kill archive. To see these, you have to click on posts on the right top. It’s fun to read people’s reactions/memories/experiences, and it’s clear that they were a hugely influential and meaningful band for a lot of people (including myself).
For those interested, Kathleen also has a blog: Kathleen’s blog.
And for fun, here is an awesome video of Bikini Kill performing live in Fargo, North Dakota and then a recent interview with Kathleen Hanna.
Tags: Bikini Kill