In this episode:
We need to respect the scene and shine a spotlight on folks who were, in fact, laying the foundation.
Jessica Schwartz speaks with art historians Marie Arleth Skov and Maria Buszek about Unruly: The Body in Punk, curated by Marie and currently on view at ARoS in Aarhus, Denmark. Taking the exhibition and its catalogue as a starting point, they ask what becomes visible when the body moves to the center of punk history—exploring unruliness, feminism, sexuality, beauty and ugliness, movement, vulnerability, and the many ways bodies refuse expectations about how they should look, behave, and belong.
The conversation considers women’s often-marginalized contributions to punk histories and moves beyond familiar musicians and canonical figures toward what Maria describes through Brian Eno’s concept of “scenius”: the collective creativity of scenes, including fans, artists, photographers, designers, organizers, and others whose everyday practices helped make punk possible. Marie and Maria also reflect on the productive tensions involved in bringing punk into museums and art history without freezing, sanitizing, or separating it from the communities and forms of resistance from which it emerged.
Moving through sexuality, feminist histories, disability, institutionalization, collective spaces, and embodied forms of resistance and care, the conversation ultimately turns toward vulnerability and joy. Marie and Maria consider how punk bodies can be aggressive, sexual, ugly, intimate, soft, frightened, joyful, or deliberately difficult—and how showing vulnerability itself can become an unruly act, sustained through communities in which people protect and create alongside one another.
Marie Arleth Skov is a Danish art historian, curator, and author based in Berlin. She is the author of Punk Art History: Artworks from the European No Future Generation (Intellect Books, 2023) and has curated several exhibitions, most recently Unruly: The Body in Punk at ARoS Art Museum in Aarhus, Denmark. The accompanying catalogue was published by Marrow Press in 2026.
Maria Buszek is Professor of Art History at the University of Colorado Denver and an independent curator whose research and teaching focus on modern and contemporary art and design. She is the author of Pin-Up Grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture and has written extensively on feminism, craft, art, and punk, including contributions to Punkademics and Punk & Post-Punk Journal, where she is an Associate Editor. Her current book project, Punk Feminisms: No Style But Strength, explores the relationships among feminist art, activism, and punk scenes in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Recorded September 2026.
Links + References:
Marie
Marrow Press – UNRULY. The Body in Punk – Marie Arleth Skov
Maria
Further links/collabs:
Punk Scholars Network International: Instagram
Marrow Press: Instagram
Credits:
Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.
Editorial support: Arrow Menendez - audio editing and audio-synced transcript.
Transcript:
Theme Music:
Lady Bits, \"Bitch-a-thon,\" Lady Bits.
Related:
Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast.
About Punkast:
Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.
Connect with Punkast:
Instagram: punkastucla
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