David Bowie: On Tour Exhibition Debuts at V&A Dundee
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- V&A Dundee will open "David Bowie: On Tour" on 4 November with 100+ items, including the clown costume from the Ashes to Ashes video, running until 15 February.
- The touring exhibition will visit five venues over two years: V&A Dundee, Showtown Blackpool (Jun–Sep 2027), Bowes Museum in County Durham (Oct 2027–Jan 2028), Ferens Art Gallery in Hull (Feb–May 2028), and Bristol Museum and Art Gallery (Jun–Sep 2028).
- Rare artefacts include a clapperboard from The Man Who Fell To Earth, Bowie's first instrument — a Grafton Alto saxophone bought by his father in 1961 — Ziggy Stardust-era costumes by Freddie Burretti and Kansai Yamamoto, and his keys to his Berlin apartment where he recorded Low and Heroes in 1977.
- The exhibition is split into four sections: "Bowie Through a Lens" (photography by Terry O'Neill, Mick Rock, Sukita, and Brian Ward), "All the Somebody People," "Hooked to the Silver Screen," and "I Can't Give Everything Away," which displays his songwriting stopwatch and 1988 British passport.
- The tour follows the September 2025 opening of the David Bowie Centre at V&A Storehouse in London, established as a permanent home for the archive.
- V&A Dundee director Leonie Bell said Bowie has long been one of the most-requested cultural figures from her audiences, noting he played Caird Hall on the Ziggy Stardust tour in 1973 and first performed in Dundee in 1966.
Why it matters: V&A is taking a major London-anchored archive on the road to five UK cities over two years, building on the September 2025 opening of the David Bowie Centre. V&A Dundee director Leonie Bell said Bowie tops her audience's most-requested list — and the tour delivers never-before-seen items from his personal collection.
