The V&A has announced that it has secured the archive of David Bowie for the nation and that it is creating a dedicated space for its display as part of the new V&A East project. The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts at V&A East Storehouse in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will open in 2025, and it promises to reveal the creative processes of one of the most pioneering and influential figures in the history of music, film, fashion and beyond.
Including more than 80,000 items, the archive traces Bowie’s creative processes as a musical innovator, cultural icon, and advocate for self-expression and reinvention from his early career in the 1960s to his death in 2016. It features handwritten lyrics, letters, sheet music, original costumes, fashion, photography, film, music videos, set designs, Bowie’s own instruments, album artwork and awards, along with more intimate writings, thought processes and unrealised projects, the majority of which have never been seen in public before.
Highlights include stage costumes such as Bowie’s breakthrough Ziggy Stardust ensembles designed by Freddie Burretti (1972), Kansai Yamamoto’s flamboyant creations for the Aladdin Sane tour (1973) and the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the Earthling album cover (1997). The archive also includes handwritten lyrics for songs including Fame (1975), “Heroes” (1977) and Ashes to Ashes (1980), as well as examples of the “cut up” method of writing introduced to Bowie by the writer William Burroughs.
Plus over 70,000 photographs, prints, negatives, large format transparencies, slides and contact sheets taken by some of the 20th century’s leading photographers from Terry O’Neill to Brian Duffy and Helmut Newton, and instruments, amps and other equipment, including Brian Eno’s EMS Synthesizer from Bowie’s seminal Low (1977) and “Heroes” albums and a Stylophone – a gift from Marc Bolan in the late 1960’s, used on Bowie’s seminal Space Oddity recording.
The acquisition and creation of The Centre have been made possible thanks to the David Bowie Estate and a generous donation of £10m from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group. The gift will also support the ongoing conservation, research, and study of the archive at V&A East Storehouse, which will bring together conservation labs, working stores, research and reading rooms with galleries, display and performance spaces and creative studios to create a unique experience for visitors.
Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, said: “David Bowie was one of the greatest musicians and performers of all time. The V&A is thrilled to become custodians of his incredible archive, and to be able to open it up for the public. Bowie’s radical innovations across music, theatre, film, fashion, and style – from Berlin to Tokyo to London – continue to influence design and visual culture and inspire creatives from Janelle Monáe to Lady Gaga to Tilda Swinton and Raf Simons.”
“Our new collections centre, V&A East Storehouse, is the ideal place to put Bowie’s work in dialogue with the V&A’s collection spanning 5,000 years of art, design, and performance. My deepest thanks go to the David Bowie Estate, Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group for helping make this a reality and for providing a new sourcebook for the Bowies of tomorrow.”
For further information: vam.ac.uk
Smith Greenfield is an independent insurance broker specialising in insurance for collectors of valuable objects including: art insurance, antiques insurance, memorabilia insurance, vintage car insurance, fine wine insurance and more. To discuss specialist insurance for your collection, please contact our Premier Client Adviser, Imran Moideen, via email imran.moideen@smithgreenfield.co.uk or telephone 020 8603 3730.
Image: Photograph of David Bowie Performing as The Thin White Duke on the Station to Station tour, 1976. Photograph by John Robert Rowlands. © John Robert Rowlands and The David Bowie Archive
The V&A will acquire The David Bowie Archive and create The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts at V&A East Storehouse, opening in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in 2025.
The acquisition and creation of The Centre has been made possible thanks to the David Bowie Estate and a generous donation of £10m from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group.