London’s V&A museum has acquired a vast 80,000-piece archive of material from the estate of David Bowie, which will go on display in a new centre at V&A East.
From 2025, the archive will be made available to the public in the new David Bowie Centre for the Studio of Performing Arts at V&A East Storehouse, located in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The acquisition by the V&A, and the creation of the new centre, was made possible by the David Bowie Estate and a £10m donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group.
“David Bowie was one of the greatest musicians and performers of all time,” said Tristram Hunt, the director of the V&A.
New David Bowie centre in Stratford
“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.”
The archive includes handwritten lyrics, letters, sheet music, costumes, photos, films, music videos, the musician’s instruments, album artwork and awards.
Highlights include handwritten lyrics for songs including ‘Fame’ (1975), ‘Heroes’ (1977) and ‘Ashes to Ashes’ (1980).
It also features Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust costumes, designed by Freddie Burretti in 1972, and the union jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the Earthling album cover (1997).
Max Lousada, the CEO of recorded music at Warner Music Group, said the archive is “an unparalleled display of individual artistic brilliance, invention, and transformation”.
V&A East Storehouse
“Bowie’s influence only grows in stature over time, and this will be an enduring celebration of his profound legacy,” Lousada added.
A spokesperson from the David Bowie Estate said Bowie’s work “can be shared with the public in ways that haven’t been possible before” through the new centre and archive.
The acquisition follows the V&A’s 2013 exhibition, ‘David Bowie Is‘, which was seen by more than two million people across the world as part of its international tour.
V&A East Storehouse, a collection and research centre, is part of V&A East, which includes the V&A East Museum.
Images: Masayoshi Sukita / John Robert Rowlands
