The Bite Magazine - Spring Summer 2013

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The creation of this exhibition
would never have occurred
without the hard work and myriad
contributions from a wide variety
of organisations, designers, and
sponsors. The task of designing the
exhibition has been largely the duty
of 59 Productions, collaborating with
Real Studios. Past achievements have
included the London 2012 Olympic
Opening Ceremony, for which they
did the video design, the stage show
of the ever popular War Horse,
and productions for The National
Theatre, The Royal Opera House,
The English National Opera and the
Metropolitan Opera NewYork.
Barnbrook, a graphic design studio,
created the graphic identity and publicity for this
exhibition. This is not the first that they’ve had
some kind of involvement with David Bowie, for
Barnbrook have collaborated with artists for the
cover designs of his albums Heathen in 2002, and
Reality in 2003. The exhibition is kindly sponsored
by leading luxury fashion brand Gucci, and
microphone, headphone, and wireless transmitter
manufacturer The Sennheiser Group.
But what of the curators who have also done
their bit to contribute to this exhibition? Geoffrey
Marsh, the first co-curator of this exhibition is
the Director of the V&A’s Department of Theatre
And Performance. In past V&A exhibitions he has
co-curated 2008’s The Story of the Supremes, and
2010’s Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballet
Russes 1909-1929. The Imperial War Museum has
also been privy to Marsh’s talents, as he was once
the museum’s Director of Development.
Meanwhile,Victoria Broackes is not only a curator
in the Department Of Theatre And Performance
but she also holds two other positions at theV&A,
as Head of Performance Exhibitions and as Head
of the London Design Festival. Music, design, and
popular culture are obviously her specialities as
she has produced many past V&A exhibitions,
including Kylie Minogue:The Exhibition (2007) and
The Story Of The Supremes, both of which she co-
curated, as well as Top Of The Pops (2009), Diaghilev
and the Golden Age Of The Ballet Russes 1909-
1929, and The House Of Annie Lennox (2011).
A book has been published to commemorate the
exhibition, on which Geoffrey Marsh and Victoria
Broackes worked as co-editors and contributors.
Also entitled David Bowie Is , it is the first book to
be authorised by the David Bowie Archive and also
the first to be permitted full access to said archive.
The book includes essays by Howard Goodall, Jon
Savage, Camille Paglia, and Christopher Frayling.
The publication is exclusive to theV&A, yet another
of the many reasons to pay a visit to this
once in a lifetime exhibition.
With so much to see, David Bowie Is will
be an exhibition that no fan can afford
to miss. It has everything you could ever
imagine for the die-hard fan and lots of
pleasant surprises for the casual fan and,
if nothing else, it will provide a day out
unlike any other.With such iconic images
and ideas created by Bowie over the years,
visitors to the exhibition will have these images and more imprinted
on their minds long after leaving
the museum but, most of all, they
will surely walk away with a greater
understanding of the impact
Bowie’s work has had on the arts
and on society, a legacy that many
other songwriters, musicians, and
performers of today can only
dream of coming anywhere close
to attaining.
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