For many, the objects of adolescent devotion—a crumpled poster, a tin pencil case, a fake nose ring—are nostalgic nonsense. But for curator Tory Turk, they are relics of a modern faith. Her new exhibition, Holy Pop! at Somerset House in London, transforms these mundane mementos into a gallery of the sacred, exploring how pop culture has become a substitute for religion in an increasingly secular Europe.
The show features shrines dedicated to icons from The Spice Girls to Elvis Presley, including a George Michael tribute with holographic stickers and heart-shaped mirrors, and a Yellow Submarine cookie jar filled with ashes. The most hallowed object is a piece of chewing gum left on a piano by Nina Simone during a 1999 London performance, later retrieved by Australian musician Warren Ellis, who called it "a hallowed relic."
From Secular Void to Sacred Community
Turk, who developed her fascination with niche collectors while working at HyMag, the world's largest magazine collection, argues that these objects are deeply meaningful. "Looking after your objects, carefully arranging them is really therapeutic," she told Euronews Culture. "And actually, it's really meaningful." She notes that pop culture was long seen as "low rent" by traditional museums, but her exhibition elevates it to an art form.
The phenomenon is not limited to the UK. Across Europe, from Paris to Berlin, fan communities gather around shared obsessions, creating a sense of belonging that traditional institutions often fail to provide. As the continent becomes more secular, these fandoms fill a void once occupied by organized religion. Sally Rooney, in her novel Beautiful World, Where Are You, called this "a malignant growth where the sacred used to be," but Turk sees an endearing quality in the creativity and connection it fosters.
Certain icons—Dolly Parton, Prince, Elvis—hold a particular intensity of appeal that transcends generations. "Elvis’ spirit of just crashing into pop culture. He became like Jesus, you know. A prophet," Turk said. This echoes a broader European trend: the rise of pop culture as a unifying force in a fragmented world.
The exhibition also touches on the parasocial relationships that can develop, but Turk emphasizes the positive aspects. "An object has the power to transport you back to a time and a feeling. Keeping a train ticket or, you know, stealing the butt from [a celebrity’s] cigarette butt," she said. "However mundane, or however silly, these things have the power to make you feel a certain way."
Ultimately, Holy Pop! is not about the celebrities themselves, but about the fans. "The mementos of our celebrity devotions are never truly shrines to them, but shrines to ourselves: the people we have been, and the people we have loved unashamedly," the exhibition suggests. In a world where digital interactions often replace physical ones, these tangible objects offer a rare anchor to memory and identity.
For those who have ever felt the pull of a pop star's magic, the exhibition is a reminder that such devotion is not silly—it is human. And in an era of cookie fatigue and digital overload, perhaps a piece of gum or a cookie jar filled with ashes is exactly what we need to reconnect with what matters.
