2025 - November and December - page 34
Image details
| Issue number | 404 |
|---|---|
| ISSN | 2632-7171 |
| Publication date | 1st November 2025 |
| Transcription |
magazine Community News The David Bowie Archive The David Bowie Archive was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in early 2024, with support from the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Warner Music Group, and Jones/ Tintoretto Entertainment Company. The archive was collected by David Bowie and includes paper items such as: sketches, writings, lyrics and photographic prints; and 3D items such as: costumes, musical instruments, props and set models. In total it spans around 90,000 individual items. Cataloguing the archive: Because of the range of formats in the David Bowie Archive, a team was hired to process it, including object cataloguers, photographers and conservators. The paper and photography material was catalogued by a team of three of: Abigail Williams (Project Archivist), Holly Stepp and Ruby van Leer (Project Archive Assistants). The archive arrived meticulously arranged, and the final archival arrangement reflects how the material was stored while in David Bowie’s custody. Throughout the collection there are post-it notes in David Bowie’s handwriting, giving contextual information for the sheets they are attached to. Surprises: The archive contains some material you would expect to find – including a large and comprehensive photographic archive, album liner designs and notes and lyrics for David Bowie’s studio albums. It also contains some unexpected material, like a nine box collection of unfinished projects. 34 This collection included notes for a musical set in the 18th century, provisionally titled ‘Spectator’, which Bowie was working on in the final year of his life. Post-it notes for ‘Spectator’ © The David Bowie collection, Courtesy of the V&A Opening the centre / providing access to the archive: The archive can be accessed in the David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse, a purpose-built centre with a small display space, archival storage and the David Bowie Study Room. The archival storage is in a publicly accessible area, with lockable glass doors in front of all the shelves to safeguard the collection. The storage area was made public to give visitors a sense of the scope of the archive: the roughly 750 boxes can be seen on shelves by visitors, with a further 150 files locked below the shelves in plan chests. The David Bowie Centre opened in September this year, with a free, ticketed permanent exhibition. The catalogue for the David Bowie Archive is available online, and visitors can book an appointment in the David Bowie Study Centre two days a week, to consult archival material. Abigail Williams Project Archivist (David Bowie Archive), V&A Archivists consulting sketches from the ‘Unfinished Projects’ boxes. © The David Bowie collection, Courtesy of the V&A Notebook for ‘Spectator’. © The David Bowie collection, Courtesy of the V&A |