Opening this weekend at the fabulous V&A East Storehouse is the David Bowie Centre, a new permanent home for the recently acquired David Bowie Archive.
Consisting of over 90,000 single objects ranging from handwritten notes to on-stage outfits, the Archive is being showcased on a rotating basis via nine changing mini displays in the Centre. One of the most striking objects is a rejection letter from Apple Records in 1968.
Also on view are costumes, instruments, handwritten lyrics, and The Spectator, an unrealised musical he was working on until his death in 2016. Additionally, objects can also be specially consulted in the dedicated Bowie Study Centre using the Order an Object service.
Three of the displays will change more often to spotlight new research and introduce guest-curated elements by Bowie’s past collaborators and those who have been inspired by him. The current iteration focuses on Nile Rodgers and The Last Dinner Party.
Meanwhile, underneath a clothing rail showing 20 of Bowie’s most iconic fashion outfits stored in protective Tyvek covers, a table allows visitors to experience what it is like to browse (replica) archive material in their boxes while the originals overwhelm their surroundings.
Bowie was extremely proactive in establishing his own archive, creating his own classification system for where objects should be catalogued under, including one for unrealised projects. His use of Post-It notes is a common feature. As a result, the V&A has preserved the same structure in their own cataloguing of the Archive.
This is a thrilling new addition to the V&A East Storehouse and provides further insight into how the museum operates. To access the centre, you must book a free ticket online. Ticket drops happen every six weeks; the first round has already sold out.
The David Bowie Centre (opens 13 September 2025) is at the V&A East Storehouse, London, https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/david-bowie-centre
Nigel Ip 
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