South African artists are among the international voices featured in Grrrl Germs: Punk feminism goes viral, 1991–2026, a new exhibition tracing the global influence of the Riot Grrrl movement. Curated by Astria Suparak, the exhibition opens on August 29 at Great Park Gallery in Irvine, California, as part of Olivia Rodrigo’s inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival, before running until November 29.
The exhibition explores how a movement that emerged among young women in the early 1990s spread internationally through music, zines, flyers, activism and DIY networks. Rather than treating Riot Grrrl as a closed chapter of punk history, Grrrl Germs looks at how its ideas continue to shape artists and communities today, bringing together archival material with contemporary work from artists across different countries and generations.
Among the South African artists represented are Joburg post-punk trio Pussy Heaven, rapper Dope Saint Jude, gqom-rock artist Ganga Jaji, and punk bands Cistamatic and Boom. Pussy Heaven will have two of their music videos, P.S. and Hushpuppy, featured as part of the exhibition. Their inclusion places contemporary South African underground music within a much broader history of feminist punk and DIY creative practice.
The exhibition also features work and material connected to artists including Riot Grrrl pioneering band Bikini Kill (USA), Huggy Bear (England), Bratmobile (USA) and more, alongside an extensive collection of zines, flyers, videos and other ephemera documenting the movement’s international spread. Its accompanying collaborative map traces Riot Grrrl chapters, Ladyfest events and related feminist punk activity across the world, demonstrating how ideas that began in one scene were adapted and transformed by communities elsewhere.
For the South African artists involved, the exhibition offers another way of locating the country’s underground music within a global lineage of artists using music, visual culture and DIY practice to create their own spaces.
Grrrl Germs: Punk feminism goes viral, 1991–2026 runs from August 29 to November 29 at Great Park Gallery, Irvine, California.
