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David Bowie as The Thin White Duke Station to Station Tour 1976 John Robert Rowlands

More than 80,000 items from David Bowie's life and career donated to the V&A

23 February 2023, 10:03 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

The V&A has received a huge donation of more than 80,000 items that span six decades of David Bowie's life and work, and will make the huge archive available to the public in 2025.

The archive, which is made up of over 80,000 items from across Bowie's life and work, will be on show in The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts at V&A East Storehouse, which will be located in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The Centre will be created thanks to the David Bowie Estate and a £10m donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group.

Pieces in the archive include handwritten lyrics, letters, sheet music, original costumes, fashion, photography, film, music videos, set designs, Bowie’s own instruments, album artwork, awards, intimate writings, thought processes and unrealised projects.

Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, said: "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. 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. 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."

A spokesperson from the David Bowie 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 Performance – 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."

Nile Rodgers added, "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!"

The David Bowie archive will be made available to the public in 2025.

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