Alistair Hardaker | Image: Freddie Burretti-designed costume for David Bowie's The David Bowie Tour, 1973 © David Parry/ PA Media Assignments
David Bowie: On Tour brings over 100 archive highlights to venues in Dundee, Blackpool, County Durham, Hull and Bristol from November 2026.
The V&A has announced a national tour of more than 100 highlights from its David Bowie archive, which will travel to venues across the UK from November 2026.
David Bowie: On Tour will open at V&A Dundee, running from November 2026 to February 2027. It will then travel to Showtown in Blackpool (June to September 2027), the Bowes Museum in County Durham (October 2027 to January 2028), the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull (February to May 2028) and Bristol Museum and Art Gallery (June to September 2028), with further venues to be announced.
Chairman of the Blackpool Heritage and Museum Trust, which operates Showtown, Spencer Phillips, said: “This is a hugely significant announcement for Showtown and for Blackpool as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of David Bowie’s live performance in the resort.”
Cllr Jackie Dad, deputy leader of Hull City Council and portfolio holder for culture, said: “Hull has a legendary connection to David Bowie through the incomparable Mick Ronson and the Spiders from Mars, and the mark they left on music history.
The tour marks the first time highlights from the archive have been shared on this scale across the UK outside London. Many of the items have not been on public display before.
The tour is organised across four sections exploring Bowie’s creative process across photography, music, and film and television. Highlights include costumes, musical instruments and photography, alongside items shown for the first time. These include Polaroids from make-up and costume fittings, a Ziggy Stardust-era acoustic guitar, and handwritten lyrics, performance notes and costumes from Bowie’s final albums, The Next Day and ★ (Blackstar).
Other items include the Grafton Alto saxophone bought for Bowie by his father in 1961, the koto used on “Moss Garden” from the album “Heroes”, the keys to his Berlin apartment, and his 1988 British passport.
The tour has been developed by V&A Touring and V&A National Programmes and is curated by Harriet Reed.
The David Bowie archive was acquired by the V&A in 2024 through the David Bowie Estate, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group. It comprises more than 90,000 items. The archive’s permanent home is the David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
