David Bowie’s unrealised dreams to finally see light of day as V&A acquires his archive

Anita Singh
Wed, 22 February 2023 

The 'unprecedented' gift to the Victoria and Albert will give fans new insight into the life of David Bowie - Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns

The Victoria and Albert (V&A) has acquired the David Bowie archive in the largest donation of its kind in the museum’s history.

The “unprecedented” gift of 80,000 objects includes Bowie’s most famous stage outfits and the handwritten lyrics to songs such as Heroes and Ashes to Ashes.

But fans will also learn about unrealised projects that never saw the light of day, through the notebooks that Bowie filled with ideas.

They include a musical adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, which he had hoped to take to the West End but which failed to gain the approval of Orwell’s widow.

The archive features letters, sheet music, film, video, set designs, instruments, album artwork, awards and a huge collection of photographs.

The archive shows some of Bowie's most striking outfits - Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

There are “intimate” notebooks, 70,000 pictures and the synthesiser that Brian Eno used on Bowie albums, as well as the Stylophone that was a present from Marc Bolan and was used in the recording of Space Oddity.

Costumes include the Ziggy Stardust ensembles designed by Freddie Burretti, as well as Kansai Yamamoto’s flamboyant creations for the 1973 Aladdin Sane tour.

David Bowie wearing the bodysuit designed by Kansai Yamamoto for the 1973 Aladdin Sane tour - Sukita and The David Bowie Archive/PA

A photo collage of film stills from The Man Who Fell To Earth will go on display, as will examples of the “cut up” writing introduced to Bowie by William Burroughs.

Bowie used a 'cut up' style of writing to produce his work - The David Bowie Archive

Bowie meticulously catalogued his own work and housed the collection in a storage facility in New Jersey.

Some of it appeared in a record-breaking V&A exhibition, which opened in 2013 and was seen by two million people around the world.

“He kept absolutely everything,” said a friend of the star, who died in 2016. “Every outfit from Top of the Pops, detailed notes of every project. The exhibition only scratched the surface.”

A self-portrait of Bowie that will feature in the forthcoming display - The David Bowie Archive

The archive will be housed at the new V&A site at East London’s Olympic Park, in The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts.

The £10 million centre is being funded by Warner Music Group and the foundation of Sir Leonard Blavatnik, the Ukrainian-born billionaire and arts philanthropist.

It is the largest gift ever made by a performer to the V&A. Tristram Hunt, the museum’s director, said it would provide “a new sourcebook for the Bowies of tomorrow”.

Kate Bailey, the V&A’s senior curator of theatre and performance, said of the archive: “The scale and breadth is unprecedented.

“It is absolutely remarkable. Not only was Bowie making amazing music and touring the world, he managed to meticulously preserve and curate the important parts of his creative journey. From the 1960s, he was keeping things.

“There are notebooks and scripts, ideas and notations. They are intimate in the creative sense. Bowie’s life was art, and you definitely get that sense.”

Bowie’s death followed an “18-month battle with cancer” which he fought privately, keeping the news from all but the closest family and friends.

His estate was divided between his widow, Iman, and his children, Duncan and Lexi Jones. The executor of his will is Bill Zysblat, Bowie’s long-time business manager.

The estate sold Bowie’s publishing catalogue to Warner Chappell Music last year for a reported $250 million (£206.5 million).

Thousands of photographs are also part of the collection - John Robert Rowlands

A spokesman for the estate said: “With David’s life’s work becoming a part of the UK’s national collections, he takes his rightful place amongst many other cultural icons and artistic geniuses.

“We’re so pleased to be working closely with the V&A to continue to commemorate David’s enduring cultural influence.”

The collection is so vast that it will take two years to catalogue, with the centre scheduled to open its doors in 2025.

Bowie’s plans for the George Orwell musical have intrigued fans for decades.

He told one biographer: “My office approached Mrs Orwell because I said: ‘Office, I want to do Nineteen Eighty-Four as a musical, go get me the rights.’

“And they duly trooped off to see Mrs Orwell, who in so many words said: ‘You’ve got to be out of your gourd. Do you think I’m turning this over to that as a musical?’ So they came back and said: ‘Sorry, David, you can’t write it.’”

Bowie had already started work on the songs, some of which ended up in a modified form on the 1974 Diamond Dogs album.