Never seen before shots of 90s rave culture to go on show

Recently discovered photos from nineties raves at the renowned Birmingham techno party House of God is due to be put on exhibition later in 2022.

The shots were by the late fashion photographer Terence Donovan just before his death. The photos are in black and white, capturing the energy and community atmosphere of the hedonistic fuelled parties at Que Club.

Terence took the photos in 1996 when he visited Que club. His son recommended he come along to one of their famous nights. His son was a student in Birmingham at the time. 

Que Club was open from 1989 to 2011, witnessing David Bowie, Blur, Daft Punk, Run-DMC, Atomic Jam and Flashback play at the hallowed venue.

Founder of House of God, Chris Wishart kept the photos at his home in Wolverhampton. The information came to light when Jez Collins interviewed Chris while researching an upcoming documentary celebrating the famous venue.

The collection of photos will feature at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery ‘In the Que’, due to open on the 28th of of April.

Jez Collins, Founder of Birmingham Music Archive and Curator of ‘In the Que’ spoke to The Guardian in a recent interview saying:

“At the time he took these photos, he was still a photographer for Vogue doing fashion shoots and taking photos of rich and famous people, “He would photograph people like Princess Diana and musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Ian Dury — but to my knowledge, he had never photographed a club environment and ordinary, everyday people.

He would have been completely out of his comfort zone in terms of the music, which had a pounding beat, with a lot of drugs being taken in the dark, he continued. He captured something of great beauty. The photographs are evocative of what clubbing culture was like then… That intimacy, that closeness, that experience of being very close to people you don’t know and sharing in that same moment the same music — and dancing together. That sense of being part of something bigger than yourself.”

Donovan was almost 60 when he visited Que Club in January 1996. The club was inside a former church, a Grade II-listed Methodist Central Hall.