At the moment (Saturday September 13) sees the opening of the brand new David Bowie Centre at London’s V&A East Storehouse, containing over 90,000 of the icon’s possessions to information you thru his inventive life and impression on tradition. Take a look at our walk-through video under, together with our interview with the curator.
Opening again in spring, the V&A Storehouse is a brand new working retailer and customer attraction within the new cultural quarter within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, and is house over 500,000 works, together with the Glastonbury Competition Archives, costumes from PJ Harvey and Elton John, designer couture, classic shirts, Samurai swords and plenty of extra. It is going to additionally home over 100 curated mini-displays. Now, David Bowie’s huge assortment is a part of it and obtainable for public view.
Persevering with their collaboration after the V&A’s acclaimed David Bowie Is exhibition in 2013, the brand new David Bowie Centre is now open – containing the Skinny White Duke’s iconic costumes, musical devices, make-up charts, stage fashions, Indirect Methods card decks, private notes, writings, lyrics and music, sketches, designs, images and way more. Up to now it has revealed Bowie’s favorite songs in a observe that he left, and work on an unfinished stage musical as a part of the various ‘unrealised tasks’ unearthed. There are additionally curated exhibitions of objects by Bowie collaborator Nile Rodgers and super-fans The Final Dinner Social gathering.
NME headed all the way down to an early press viewing, the place we noticed Bowie’s legendary Alexander McQueen Union Jack ‘Earthling’ jacket, outfits from the ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and ‘Let’s Dance’ period, storyboards for performs, handwritten lyrics, devices performed by the star, the important thing to his and Iggy Pop‘s Berlin flat, and have been allowed to leaf via notes made in preparation of his remaining album ‘Blackstar’.
“It’s actually a really totally different expertise from the ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition,” curator Dr Madeleine Haddon informed NME. “Firstly is the dimensions – it is a smaller and extra intimate expertise. It’s not an exhibition, it’s getting behind the scenes to expertise a working archive.
“That matches throughout the broader mission of the V&A Storehouse, the place we’ve 250,000 objects from our assortment that you could now have entry to. We’re actually peeling again the layers of the museum and the way and why we do issues right here.”
From at this time, followers can now ebook tickets via the V&A web site to go to the centre itself, otherwise you undergo the gathering on-line and seek for the Bowie materials and make an appointment to view mentioned gadgets both within the V&A storehouse lecture room or throughout the Bowie lecture room.
Take a look at our full interview with Dr Haddon, the place she unpacked the various discoveries for Bowie followers that await them.
NME: Howdy Dr Haddon. How would you describe the overarching spirit of The David Bowie Centre?
Dr Haddon: “A serious a part of this was eager about how can the David Bowie archive not solely inform his story, but additionally be related to folks at this time – significantly creatives of all totally different disciplines, and particularly younger folks. We’re eager about the subsequent era of museum guests and potential Bowie followers.
“An angle that we emphasise is how Bowie was such a pioneer and a artistic. He was not solely a musician, however he was an artist, a author, an actor, a designer. We’ve objects that talk to the breadth of his artistic apply. He was endlessly making, exploring and experimenting. That speaks to creatives at this time that don’t need to be contained inside a single style or field. They need to see themselves as expansively artistic. Bowie actually paved the way in which for that.
“We additionally emphasise the breadth of his impression on in style tradition: artwork, music, vogue. So lots of the artists, creatives and designers that we love at this time wouldn’t be the place they’re at this time with out David Bowie. There’s Girl Gaga, who we’ve a fan letter that she herself despatched to David Bowie, speaking about how necessary he has been for her profession.
“The story of the various David Bowies is contained inside this archive. You may consider how Bowie means one thing totally different to so many various folks, however there’s additionally the story of his collaborators and influences. There are numerous folks he labored with all through the totally different levels of his profession. You can even study concerning the many beforehand unnamed collaborators who haven’t had the prospect to be woven within the Bowie story earlier than.”
What are you able to inform us about entry you needed to the Bowie archive and property?
“We have been extremely fortunate, first given the V&A’s relationship with Bowie and the household. By means of the David Bowie Is exhibition we already had a sign of what was within the assortment, however Bowie had an archivist and a cataloging staff of his personal. There was a database for it and saved inside museum stage storage in New York and Jersey. He had his personal museum in that method.
“A variety of that work was accomplished for us. We’ve cataloged every little thing so folks can seek for it on-line. The challenge itself of our stage of analysis will probably be ongoing lengthy after the centre opens.”
And what of those ‘unrealised tasks’ from Bowie you uncovered?
“We’ve various them all through Bowie’s profession of various movies, musicals, concert events, unrealised songs, TV exhibits, you identify it. They actually communicate to his infinite should be creating and exploring whereas engaged on many various tasks directly.
“We’ve movies which are contemporaneous to ‘Younger People’ and ‘Diamond Canine’ albums, and you’ll see how he was considering up concepts for these albums within the music but additionally exploring them in a distinct style. We’ve notes and sketches for characters and storylines and actually implausible storyboards. We’ve numerous drawings by Bowie. We’ve many sketches for these unrealised tasks that he was considering via.
“The tasks weren’t realised for quite a lot of causes: both he didn’t pursue them or they have been blocked.”
Are there many extra newly uncovered revelations? Most hardcore Bowie followers would thank they’ve seen all of it…
“You undoubtedly haven’t seen all of it – there’s a lot extra to see. We found sure guitars that we didn’t know that he’d saved from early intervals, costumes we didn’t know that he’d saved. A lot of the archive is newly uncovered revelations.”
David Bowie Is felt very beneficiant. That is subsequent stage…
“Sure. You may discover his pocket book pages, we’ve a lot of lists that he created, he has numerous writing on eager about the way forward for the web and what it’s impression could be on the music business and society extra broadly, we’ve a show that appears at his fascination with science fiction and futurism and the way that was such an necessary inspiration and catalyst, we take a look at how he turned one of many first artists to launch his music on-line and to create his personal web site with Bowie Web. He was talking with followers on-line and in chat rooms lengthy earlier than social media and he was such a pioneer with expertise.
“So lots of the devices that he labored with have been new expertise that he was the primary to experiment with too. One other theme we discover is how Bowie was such a pioneer of gender fluidity when it comes to the garments and make up he wore, significantly within the ‘70s. The artistic freedom and self expression we’ve at this time is in credit score to how expressive and pioneering he was.
“We have a look at how Bowie used his platform for individuals who didn’t have a voice. As an illustration, he used the ‘Let’s Dance’ video to platform first nation Australians for the primary time on international tv.”
And what about random sketches accomplished out of boredom?
“We’ve a setlist from ‘Station To Station’ that simply has random doodles. You see them so much too when he’s writing lyrics. That’s what’s so intimate and weak about all of it: there’s numerous the banal in right here. To do lists of issues that he needed to recollect with every little thing from exercising to getting again to collaborators, it’s all combined up collectively.”
Even purchasing lists?
“No, however we do have a menu from when he was in Berlin with what he and Iggy Pop needed to order. He saved even that.”
What are you able to inform us concerning the gadgets on show?
“We’ve every little thing from the Alexander McQueen and Bowie designed Union Jack coat that Bowie wore on the quilt of ‘Earthling’ and through that tour, some extremely iconic costumes from the Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane interval, Bowie’s paint palette and brushes, pocket book pages, letters, storyboards, and numerous pictures.”
Will the gadgets on show alternate?
“Sure, 75 per cent of them will keep on view for the subsequent two years and the others will rotate each six months or so. That’s the place our visitor curators’ show will probably be. Our first have been Nile Rodgers and The Final Dinner Social gathering. We’ll even have shows in step with broader themes that we’re exploring throughout V&A East. Our first theme seems to be on the affect of jungle and drum n’ bass on Bowie’s work within the ‘90s, and that’s in dialogue with our first momentary exhibition opening in 2026 within the V&A that’s on the historical past of Black British Music.”
You will have his desk too, proper?
“We do, we’ve his final writing desk. It’s not on view, however you can also make an appointment to see it.”
Are there every other popular culture figures that you just really feel that you possibly can do one thing like this for with this a lot depth?
“Bowie may be very distinctive from the angle of what a polymath he was. There aren’t many popular culture figures that labored so expansively throughout so many genres. The archive shouldn’t be solely a testomony to Bowie’s music, however to all his artistic practices. That’s a extremely necessary narrative for us, particularly in a museum just like the V&A. You’d additionally battle to search out one who saved every little thing. Not many popular culture figures have 90,000 objects they might donate to a museum. We’ve objects from the start of his profession via to the tip. He stored every little thing. It’ll be whereas earlier than we discover another person like him to do that with.”
The David Bowie Centre on the V&A Storehouse is now open. Go to right here for tickets and data.
In the meantime, Kate Moss lately shared a podcast celebrating the “inventive evolution” of Bowie, whereas the ‘I Can’t Give Every part Away’ field set celebrating the music he made within the remaining years of his life within the twenty first Century is out now.
