Inside the groundbreaking David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse
The David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse, opening on 13 September 2025, will bring visitors closer than ever to the life, work and creative vision of one of the most influential artists of modern times. More than 90,000 items from Bowie’s personal archive will be housed in the new centre, offering insight into his evolving personas, handwritten lyrics, original costumes, intimate photographs and experimental projects. From rare sketches to artefacts tied to both iconic moments and unrealised ideas, the collection reveals the depth and range of Bowie’s imagination. Visitors will also have the unique opportunity to book one to one time with selected items from the archive, allowing for a more personal connection to Bowie’s process and legacy.
David Bowie performing on the Ziggy Stardust tour, 1973 © Mick Rock 1973, Estate of Mick Rock 2025.
Among the most anticipated features of the opening is a guest curated display by Bowie’s friend and collaborator Nile Rodgers, alongside Brit Award winning band The Last Dinner Party. Rodgers, who produced Bowie’s Let’s Dance and Black Tie White Noise, has chosen items that reflect their creative and personal connection. These include a bespoke Peter Hall suit worn during the Serious Moonlight tour and intimate correspondence between the two musicians. The Last Dinner Party, meanwhile, have drawn from Bowie’s 1970s output, selecting everything from handwritten lyrics for Win to an EMS synthesiser manual used during the making of the Berlin trilogy.
The centre does not just celebrate what Bowie accomplished, it also sheds light on what could have been. Several exhibits focus on unrealised projects, such as proposed films based on Young Americans and Diamond Dogs, and a concept to adapt Orwell’s 1984. These rare glimpses into Bowie’s creative ambition reveal how restlessly inventive he was, constantly pushing towards new artistic frontiers. Other displays cover the evolution of his personas, his embrace of futurism and technology, and his legendary 1987 Glass Spider tour, even highlighting his influence on political moments like his Berlin Wall concert.
Guest curators, The Last Dinner Party, with items from David Bowie's Archive. Photograph by Timothy Eliot Spurr for the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The development of the centre has included collaboration with young people from East London. Eighteen to twenty five year olds from Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest worked with the V&A East Storehouse curatorial team to shape displays that speak to Bowie’s impact on new generations. The result is a layered portrait of an artist who stood for transformation, experimentation and community, ideals still relevant in today’s cultural landscape.
Set for The Glass Spider Tour for album Never Let Me Down gifted to Bowie by Vari-Lite Concerts. Inc, 1978. © The David Bowie ArchiveTM.
Admission to the David Bowie Centre will be free, with tickets available later in the year. “Bowie embodied a truly multidisciplinary practice. He was a musician, actor, writer, performer and cultural icon,” said curator Madeleine Haddon. “That spirit reflects the way many young creatives today move across different forms of expression and resist being defined by one role or identity. His fearless approach to performance and self expression has shaped contemporary culture in ways we are only beginning to understand. In the centre, we want visitors to get closer to Bowie and his creative world than ever before.
Date: 13 September 2025. Location: V&A East Storehouse, Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London E20 3BS. vam.ac.uk.
