On Saturday 13th September, V&A East Storehouse opened its doors to the world-first David Bowie Centre on East Bank in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, designed by design company, IDK. A new permanent home for David Bowie’s archive – made available to the public in entirety for the first time – the Centre is first and foremost a working archive and collections store with reading areas and a study room. Visitors can book one-on-one time with their selections from the 90,000+ items in Bowie’s archive through the pioneering new Order an Object service and via appointments with the V&A Archives team. Access to visit the David Bowie Centre is free but ticketed, with new ticket drops every six weeks. Within the first week of object appointments going live, over 500 items have been requested by the public. The most popular object is a frockcoat designed by Alexander McQueen and David Bowie for his 50th Birthday Concert in 1997.
The David Bowie Centre is brought to life with a series of nine rotating mini displays featuring approximately 200 highlights exploring different themes and elements of the archive from Bowie’s creative process and personas to his many collaborators and influences spanning Little Richard to Jungle and Drum & Bass. The central space includes a dedicated area for exploring the archive further, where visitors who have booked a ticket to see the displays, can explore topic boxes housing curated selections of reproductions of archival material.
Overhead hang twenty of Bowie’s most iconic fashion and costumes in their special storage bags, from Freddie Burretti’s Ziggy Stardust looks to Agnes b’s Heathen ensembles, and Bowie’s 1992 Thierry Mugler wedding suit. A new film created showcases performances and music videos spanning Bowie’s career and an interactive installation, ‘The Library of Connections’, traces the wide-spread impact of Bowie on popular culture from the sit-com Friends to Issey Miyake fashion and musicians from Lady Gaga, Charli XCX, Janelle Monae, and Kendrick Lamar.
Revelations
The working archive and Order and Object service invites visitors on a personal journey to explore unseen aspects of Bowie’s extraordinary creative process. Items include Bowie’s first ever instrument – a saxophone brought for him by his father in the early 1960s, iconic and unfinished costumes, stage sets, and Jim Henson-designed life size puppets of Bowie’s many personas for a music video that was never released. Bowie’s extensive collection of writing, sketches, storyboards, handwritten and unreleased lyrics, digital artwork, music sheets and correspondence all offer personal insights into his creative process, and the ideas behind some of his era-defining projects. Also available to order is one of Bowie’s final Ziggy Stardust ensembles, never seen in the UK, the clapperboard used for the film The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976), artwork, materials and costume related to Bowie’s 50th birthday concert in 1997, and Bowie’s original cover designs for albums Hours and Lodger, among others.
Items tracing the creation of Bowie’s final albums, The Next Day (released 2013) and Blackstar (released 2016) – not seen until now – are also available to book, including costumes, posters and props for The Next Day such as the origami birds Bowie made for his October 2013 NME cover shoot. Blackstar items include Bowie’s own sketches, a costume Bowie decorated by hand for the 2016 ‘Lazurus’ music video referencing an iconic 1975 photoshoot shot by Steve Schapiro, alongside Bowie’s own artwork and awards.
Revelations within the displays span Bowie’s prophetic writings on the future of the internet, photographs from recording sessions, his artist’s palette and self-portrait, and a series of unrealised projects. Discovered in Bowie’s office after his untimely passing was The Spectator – a musical set in 18th century London. Bowie researched artists, writers, queer communities, criminals and public executions for the project to illustrate a London society on the cusp of modernity. On display are his notepad, index cards, and a series of sticky notes outlining historical events, potential characters, and possible scenes for the musical set around Covent Garden in the 1700s, including historical and invented characters. The musical would open with the dramatic real-life public execution of the notorious criminal, Jack Sheppard, on 16 November 1724.
Advances
Dr Madeleine Haddon, Curator, V&A East, said: “Bowie was a pioneering multi-disciplinary creative —musician, actor, writer, performer, and cultural icon – working in a way many young creatives move fluidly across disciplines today. He was fascinated by the modern musical form and the 18th century as a threshold of modernity, shaped by the Enlightenment, advances in the arts, science, and philosophy. His plans for The Spectator, among other creative projects that can be seen across the displays, reveal his continual drive to experiment with boundary-pushing ideas and creative forms throughout his life and career, as well as his meticulous creative process, which visitors can delve into throughout his archive and across the David Bowie Centre’s opening displays.”
Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, said: “One of the greatest performers, musicians, artists and innovators of all time, David Bowie’s impact continues to reverberate nearly a decade after his death – while his influence on design and visual culture and his inspiration on creatives today is unmatched. We are thrilled to care for Bowie’s incredible archive, revealing new insights into his creativity and legacy, and open it up for everyone at V&A East Storehouse, 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 – without their extreme generosity, this wouldn’t have been possible.”
Sir Leonard Blavatnik, founder of the Blavatnik Family Foundation, said: “We’re proud to support the David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse, honouring a timeless cultural icon.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse is amazing. It’s a must see for fans of David Bowie. It offers a fascinating insight into the life and work of one of London’s most influential artists. For the very first time, this immense collection is available for the public – and it’s free. I’m immensely proud of East Bank and City Hall will continue to support this new world-class cultural quarter as we build a better London for everyone.”
Outside of the David Bowie Centre, and available to view without a free ticket, in V&A East Storehouse’s main self-guided experience, a new mini display spotlights the work of the David Bowie archive cataloguing team and a series of new revelations as part of the process. For the first week after opening, V&A East Storehouse’s Object Encounters sessions will be Bowie themed, free sessions inviting visitors behind the scenes into storage areas with our collections team.
For more information on the David Bowie Centre and to sign up for updates, please visit: vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/david-bowie-centre.
