MED: My Empire of Dirt | Sarah Feeney

MED 001 | The Haçienda, 1989.

Sat on the steps outside, the morning after the night before.

MED 002 | Freaky Dancing. 1989.

The fanzine distributed to The Haçienda queue.

MED 003 | The End. 1986.

Given to me by Peter Hooton from The Farm to say thank you for PUMA trainers I sent him.

MED 004: The gang, 1989.

On the train to The Haçienda one Friday.

MED 005 | Banksy's balaclava 2002

Left at my house in Clapham.

MED 006 | HAÇ 51 flyers. 1987+

A miscellaneous group.

MED 007 | Harvey @ Cream/ 1993.

The last hour, 6th March.

MED 008 | Jockey Slut 1993.

Andy Weatherall front cover.

MED 009 | John Peel circa. 1997.

Thanking me for a Stay Up Forever t-shirt.

MED 010 | Most Excellent. 1990.

Invite to "Damon's" birthday.

MED 011 | Blastoff July 1989.

Flyer/Poster for the illegal rave in Blackpool.

MED 012 | Boy's Own sticker. 1992.

Stuck to my work diary.

MED 013 | Live The Dream 1989.

Get your Cornish pasties.
(If you know, you know).

MED 014 | Backstage Pass. 1991.

For The Haçienda, 12th June.

MED 015 | Henry Chalfant letter. 1988.

Mailed to me from NYC.

MED 016 | Spraycan Art. 1987.

By Henry Chalfant & James Prigoff.

MED 017 | Subway Art. 1988.

Martha Cooper & Henry Chalfant.

MED 018 | Cream flyer, circa 1992/3.

Featuring clockwise from the top: Mark, Sarah F, Charlotte, and Sarah W.
Photographed by Mark McNulty.

MED 019 | Haçienda flyer 1987.

Merry FAC-ing Christmas.

MED 20 | Dry Bar Menu 1989.

What you could have expected over Christmas and New Year.

My Empire of Dirt (MED) is a personal archive project that captures the spirit of British subculture through my personal items gathered between 1985 and 2011.

This collection offers a thoughtful reflection on life, using memorabilia to delve into memories, nostalgia, and the fleeting nature of time—moments that slip through our fingers, leaving only fragments, "relics" packed away in a box.

The project examines the deep emotional ties we hold to scraps of paper, old cassette tapes, tickets, and posters—treasuring them for the memories they hold yet weighed down by the question of what to do with it all.

Unlike most institute collections, MED views subculture through the lens of the everyman (a woman!) rather than from a place of privilege.

The archive sparks many themes but refers to my boxes of random odds and ends as “my empire of dirt” to subvert the notion of what an empire—your “legacy”—ultimately amounts to: just a load of memories in a box?

Subscribe to My Empire of Dirt here

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