From Major Tom to Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, the many faces and inspirations of David Bowie are getting a permanent home in London.
Britains Victoria & Albert Museum announced Thursday that it has acquired Bowies archive of more than 80,000 items as a gift from the late musicians estate. The trove of costumes, musical instruments, letters, lyrics, photos and more will be opened to the public at a new arts center dedicated to the chameleonlike pop icon.
The David Bowie Center for the Study of Performing Arts is due to open in 2025 as part of V&A East Storehouse, an offshoot of the U.K.s national museum of art, design and performance that is being built in east Londons Olympic Park.
The V&A said the center will let fans and researchers gain insights into the creative process of Bowie, who died in 2016 at the age of 69.
Kate Bailey, the museums senior curator of theater and performance, said the archive was an extraordinary record of a creator whose life was art.
Bowies a polymath, hes multifaceted. He was inspired by all genres and disciplines, she said. Hes an artist who was working really in 360 drawing from literature, but also drawing from art history (and) the places that hed been to.
The musician born plain old David Jones in the London suburbs in 1947 reinvented himself restlessly, creating and shedding personas as he moved through musical styles from folk-rock to glam to soul to electronica.
He created a series of larger-than-life stage characters, mining influences ranging from German Expressionist cinema to Japanese Kabuki theater. In turn he has influenced musicians, filmmakers, fashion designers and advertisers.
Some of the items in the archive formed part of David Bowie Is, a multimedia exhibition that toured the world after a sold-out run at the V&A in London in 2013.
Some items are iconic, such as a multicolored quilted jumpsuit designed by Freddie Burretti for Bowies alien rock star creation Ziggy Stardust, Kansai Yamamotos futuristic creations for the Aladdin Sane tour in 1973 or the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the cover of 1997s Earthling album.
Others are more personal, including letters, handwritten lyrics for songs including the anthem Heroes, and notebooks that Bowie kept throughout his life. The archives also contain more than 70,000 photographs, slides and images.
The museum secured the archive from the Bowie estate and also received a 10 million pound ($12 million) donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group to house and display it at V&A East, part of a new culture and technology quarter rising on the site of the 2012 London Olympics.
The David Bowie Estate said that with Davids lifes work becoming part of the U.K.s national collections, he takes his rightful place amongst many other cultural icons and artistic geniuses.
V&A director Tristram Hunt called Bowie one of the greatest musicians and performers of all time.
Bowies 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, he said.
Learn how to navigate and strengthen trust in your business with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter examining what leaders need to succeed. Sign up here.
