The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London has secured the archive of the late legendary English singer-songwriter David Bowie and plans to make it available to the public beginning in 2025.
V&A secured the archive through the David Bowie Estate and a GBP £10 million donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group, the museum said in a press release on Thursday (February 23).
The archive covers more than 80,000 items that cover Bowie’s six-decade career including his creative processes as a musical innovator, cultural icon, and advocate for self-expression and reinvention.
“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.”
Dr. Tristram Hunt, V&A
The Bowie archive will feature handwritten lyrics for songs like Fame (1975), Heroes (1977) and Ashes to Ashes (1980), as well as letters, sheet music, original costumes, fashion, photography, film, music videos, set designs, and Bowie’s own instruments, album artwork and awards.
“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,” said Dr. Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A.
Bowie’s writings, thought processes and unrealized projects, of which many have yet to be open for public, will also be featured in the archive, along with the “cut up” method of writing introduced to Bowie by the writer William Burroughs.
The archive also holds a series of notebooks from every era of Bowie’s life and career.
The highlights of the archive include stage costumes such as the artist’s Ziggy Stardust ensembles designed by Freddie Burretti (1972), his Aladdin Sane tour costumes designed by Kansai Yamamoto, and the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the Earthling album cover (1997).
Additionally, V&A will create The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts at V&A East Storehouse, in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to support the conservation, research and study of Bowie’s archive.
“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,” said Hunt.
“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.”
Film stills from The Man Who Fell to Earth (1975-76), directed by Nicolas Roeg and featuring Bowie, and more than 70,000 photographs, prints, negatives, large format transparencies, slides and contact sheets are also included in the archive.
Bowie’s instruments, amps, and other equipment, including Brian Eno’s EMS Synthesizer from Bowie’s seminal Low (1977) and Heroes albums are among the highlights of the collection, in addition to a Stylophone that was gifted by Marc Bolan in the late 1960’s, which Bowie used on the seminal Space Oddity recording.
The David Bowie Archive is the latest addition to the V&A’s Theatre & Performance collections that already includes the collections of influential individuals and organizations including Vivien Leigh, Peter Brook, Akram Khan Dance Company, The Royal Court Theatre and Glastonbury Festival.
“I believe everyone will agree with me when I say that when I look back at the last 60 years of post-Beatles music that if only one artist could be in the V&A it should be David Bowie. He didn’t just make art, he was art!”
“I believe everyone will agree with me when I say that when I look back at the last 60 years of post-Beatles music that if only one artist could be in the V&A it should be David Bowie. He didn’t just make art, he was art,” said American musician and record producer Nile Rodgers.
V&A secured Bowie’s archive after its 2013 exhibition, David Bowie Is…, which was the first time that a museum had provided unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive. That exhibition was viewed by more than 2 million people globally during an international tour.
“In 2013, the V&A’s David Bowie Is… exhibition gave us unquestionable evidence that Bowie is a spectacular example of an artist, who not only made unique and phenomenal work, but who has an influence and inspiration far beyond that work itself,” said Tilda Swinton, one of David Bowie’s friends and collaborators.
“In acquiring his archive for posterity, the V&A will now be able to offer access to David Bowie’s history – and the portal it represents – not only to practicing artists from all fields, but to every last one of us, and for the foreseeable future.”
Tilda Swinton
“Ten years later, the continuing regenerative nature of his spirit grows ever further in popular resonance and cultural reach down through younger generations. In acquiring his archive for posterity, the V&A will now be able to offer access to David Bowie’s history – and the portal it represents – not only to practicing artists from all fields, but to every last one of us, and for the foreseeable future.”
“This is a truly great piece of news, which deserves the sincerest gratitude and congratulations to all those involved who have made it possible,” Swinton continued.
Sir Leonard Blavatnik, Founder and Chairman of Access Industries, and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, commented on the development, saying: “We are very proud to support the V&A and allow for the creation of this irreplaceable archive to preserve and showcase David Bowie’s iconic career. His influence on music and popular culture throughout the world cannot be overstated.”
“This archive promises to be an unparalleled display of individual artistic brilliance, invention, and transformation. Bowie’s influence only grows in stature over time, and this will be an enduring celebration of his profound legacy.”
Max Lousada, Warner Music Group
Max Lousada, CEO of Recorded Music at Warner Music Group, said: “As the stewards of David Bowie’s extraordinary music catalogue, we’re delighted to expand our relationship with his estate through this partnership with the V&A.
“This archive promises to be an unparalleled display of individual artistic brilliance, invention, and transformation. Bowie’s influence only grows in stature over time, and this will be an enduring celebration of his profound legacy.”
Most recently, commenting on the V&A deal, a spokesperson from Bowie’s estate said: “With David’s life’s work becoming part of the UK’s national collections, he takes his rightful place amongst many other cultural icons and artistic geniuses.”
“The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts – and the behind the scenes access that V&A East Storehouse offers– will mean David’s work can be shared with the public in ways that haven’t been possible before, and we’re so pleased to be working closely with the V&A to continue to commemorate David’s enduring cultural influence.”
Bowie died in January 2016 following an 18-month battle with cancer. Prior to his death, the artist released 25 studio LPs in his career that started in the 1960s.
Warner, through its subsidiary Warner Chappell Music, acquired Bowie’s entire song rights owned by the Bowie estate in January 2022 for more than $250 million.
Separately, in 2021, Warner Music announced that, from 2023, it will be representing the entire post-1968 recordings catalog of David Bowie worldwide.
The upcoming launch of the David Bowie Archive on V&A comes as Bowie’s documentary, Moonage Daydream, was named the biggest-grossing documentary movie of 2022 in any category, generating over $12.2 million this year globally at the box office, according to worldwide figures produced by BoxOfficeMojo.
The documentary, co-produced by BMG and Live Nation Productions, was the first David Bowie film to be officially sanctioned by his estate.
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