London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has acquired a huge archive of the legacy of legendary musician David Bowie. This includes around 80,000 items.
Handwritten notebooks, letters, costumes, instruments, awards, fashion clothes, photographs, films, music videos, sets… All this comprises the archive, which the public will be able to view in 2025.
The museum, which also hosted the critically acclaimed exhibition David Bowie Is – seen by more than two million people over five years – will then open the David Bowie Center for the Study of the Performing Arts in its east London warehouse, where fans, students and researchers were able to gain insight into the creative process of the pioneering British musician.
According to the announcement, the archive “also includes more intimate records, thought processes and unrealized projects, most of which have never been seen in public”.
The archive traces Bowie’s creative processes as a musical innovator, cultural icon and champion of self-expression and reinvention from his early career in the 1960s to his death in 2016.
“David Bowie was one of the greatest musicians and performers of all time,” said Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A. “The V&A is thrilled to become the custodian of his incredible archive and to be able to open it to the public. Bowie’s radical innovations in music, theatre, film, fashion and style – from Berlin to Tokyo to London – continue to influence design and visual culture and inspire creators from Janelle Monáe to Lady Gaga to Tilda Swinton and Raf Simons,” he added.
Actress Tilda Swinton, one of David Bowie’s friends and collaborators, said: “In 2013, the David Bowie is… exhibition at the V&A gave us indisputable proof that Bowie was a spectacular example of an artist who not only created unique and phenomenal works, but who had influence and inspiration far beyond the work itself. Ten years on, he continues to the regenerative nature of his spirit continues to grow in popular resonance and cultural reach through younger generations.By 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 performing artists from all fields, but to every last one of us and for the foreseeable future. This is really great news that deserves our sincerest thanks and congratulations to everyone involved in making it possible.”
The total amount paid for the archive was not disclosed, but the museum said it was made possible by a donation of ten million pounds. A source explained to Variety that the Blavatnik/Warner donation was intended for the infrastructure and maintenance of the museum, not the purchase of the archive.
Source: Rtvslo
