A small sample of the V&R Museum Bowie Collection

The Victoria and Albert Museum announced last week new details about the highly anticipated David Bowie Centre, set to open at the V&A East Storehouse on 13 September 2025. This free, ticketed space will offer unprecedented access to Bowie’s archive of more than 90,000 items, including handwritten lyrics, stage costumes, instruments, photographs, and unrealized projects. Among the highlights are guest-curated displays from Bowie collaborator Nile Rodgers and Brit Award-winning band The Last Dinner Party, offering intimate perspectives on Bowie’s creative legacy. The embedded video features members of The Last Dinner Party discussing Bowie’s influence on their music and what they discovered while exploring his archive for their guest-curated display at the David Bowie Centre. The Centre will feature rotating exhibitions, opportunities for one-on-one object appointments, and a working archive designed to inspire a new generation of creatives.

I have requested an interview with someone from the V&R and, I guess because of that was sent a press pack that includes a large number of images of items in their exhibit. These images were presumably sent far and wide, but, though I have seen many stories about the collection, I have only seen a handful of these images. What follows is a sample, though there’s much more: