Alistair Hardaker
Image: Overview of the David Bowie Centre (David Parry, PA Media Assignments)
The centre at V&A East Storehouse opens 13 September, debuting unseen objects and a new model for public archive access.
The David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse opens this week, introducing both a new model of public access to collections and a series of unseen items from the artist’s archive.
Nine rotating displays will show around 200 objects from the archive of over 90,000 items.
These include The Spectator, an unrealised musical Bowie was working on until his death in 2016, an unseen Ziggy Stardust-era guitar, and costume designs not previously exhibited. Other material on view relates to Bowie’s final albums The Next Day and Blackstar, alongside early instruments, Jim Henson-designed puppets for an unreleased video, and original cover designs for Hours and Lodger.
The archive was acquired by the V&A with support from the David Bowie Estate, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group.
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The facility, designed by IDK, is intended as both a public-facing display and a working archive with study areas. A new “Order an Object” service allows visitors to book time with specific material, over 500 objects already having been requested in the first week.
The most popular object is a frockcoat designed by Alexander McQueen and David Bowie for his 50th Birthday Concert in 1997.
Visitors can book one-on-one time with their selections from the 90,000+ items in Bowie’s archive through the new service and via appointments with the V&A Archives team. Access to visit the David Bowie Centre is free but ticketed.
Dr Madeleine Haddon, Curator, V&A East, said Bowie’s 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.”
The centre also incorporates overhead storage of twenty costumes in visible hanging bags, a film showing performances and videos, and an interactive installation, The Library of Connections, mapping Bowie’s cultural influence.
