David Bowie’s costumes, handwritten lyrics, album art work and awards are amongst greater than 80,000 archived gadgets set to go on show to the general public for the primary time.
London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is organising The David Bowie Centre for the Examine of Performing Arts at its upcoming new venue V&A East Storehouse, to showcase the intensive archive from 2025.
Spanning six many years of Bowie’s profession, from the Nineteen Sixties to his demise in 2016, the show in east London will present an up-close look into the cultural icon’s life, work and legacy.
Bowie as The Skinny White Duke on the Station To Station tour, 1976. Pic: John Robert Rowlands and The David Bowie Archive
The gathering can even function letters, devices, sheet music, vogue, pictures, movie, music movies and set designs, in addition to unrealised initiatives by no means earlier than seen in public.
Hailing Bowie as “one of many biggest musicians and performers of all time,” V&A director Dr Tristram Hunt stated the museum was “thrilled to turn out to be custodians of his unbelievable archive” and to open it to the general public.
“Bowie’s radical improvements throughout music, theatre, movie, vogue, and magnificence – from Berlin to Tokyo to London – proceed to affect design and visible tradition and encourage creatives from Janelle Monae to Woman Gaga to Tilda Swinton and Raf Simons,” he stated.
Highlights embrace stage costumes corresponding to Bowie’s breakthrough Ziggy Stardust ensembles, designed by Freddie Burretti in 1972; Kansai Yamamoto’s creations for the Aladdin Sane tour in 1973; and the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the 1997 Earthling album cowl.
Handwritten lyrics for songs together with Fame, Heroes and Ashes To Ashes additionally function, in addition to a photograph collage of movie stills from The Man Who Fell to Earth, and greater than 70,000 pictures, prints, negatives, slides and speak to sheets from photographers together with Terry O’Neill, Brian Duffy and Helmut Newton.
The archive additionally consists of devices, amps, and different gear, corresponding to a Stylophone – a present from Marc Bolan within the late Nineteen Sixties – used on Bowie’s seminal House Oddity recording.
A self-portrait in a pose additionally adopted for the album cowl of Heroes, 1978, by Bowie. Pic: The David Bowie Archive
A cultural icon and creative genius
Moreover, the archive holds a collection of intimate notebooks from each period of Bowie’s life and profession.
The acquisition by the V&A and the creation of the Bowie centre was made attainable due to the David Bowie Property and a £10m donation from the Blavatnik Household Basis and Warner Music Group.
A spokesperson from the Bowie property stated: “With David’s life’s work changing into a part of the UK’s nationwide collections, he takes his rightful place amongst many different cultural icons and creative geniuses.”
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Minimize up lyrics for Blackout from Heroes, 1977, by Bowie. Pic: The David Bowie Archive
‘His affect solely grows over time’
Bowie, born David Jones in Brixton, south London, died aged 69 on 10 January 2016.
Moonage Daydream, the primary formally sanctioned documentary on the star since his demise from most cancers, was launched in 2022, and was shortlisted at this 12 months’s BAFTAs.
Max Lousada, chief govt of recorded music at Warner Music Group, stated: “Because the stewards of David Bowie’s extraordinary music catalogue, we’re delighted to broaden our relationship along with his property via this partnership with the V&A.
“This archive guarantees to be an unparalleled show of particular person creative brilliance, invention, and transformation. Bowie’s affect solely grows in stature over time, and this will likely be a permanent celebration of his profound legacy.”
