David Bowie’s V&A archive to go on tour across the UK

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From handwritten lyrics to a Ziggy Stardust guitar, the V&A’s new nationwide tour is taking highlights from David Bowie’s archive on the road across the UK for the very first time this autumn.

Starting at V&A Dundee in November 2026, the V&A’s David Bowie: On Tour brings you closer than ever to the ideas, objects and imagination behind one of music’s most influential artists.

Here are five things you need to know about David Bowie: On Tour before it arrives in a city near you.

1. It’s a nationwide tour (with more dates and venues TBC)

For the first time, more than 100 highlights from David Bowie’s archive will tour venues nationwide, giving you the chance to experience these extraordinary items across the UK in person, and outside of London, for the very first time.

David Bowie: On Tour will travel from V&A Dundee to Blackpool, County Durham, Hull and Bristol and beyond. So, whether you’re a lifelong fan, or discovering Bowie’s work for the first time, this is a rare opportunity to encounter his creativity where you live.

Here’s the line-up so far:

• V&A Dundee (November 2026–February 2027)

• Showtown, Blackpool (June–September 2027)

• The Bowes Museum, County Durham (October 2027–January 2028)

• The Ferens Art Gallery in Hull (February–May 2028)

• Bristol Museum and Art Gallery (June–September 2028)
• More venues to be added
  

  2. The full breadth of Bowie objects are featured; from the iconic to the deeply personal

  

  
  

  This is not a retrospective. Instead, it’s an intimate glimpse into Bowie’s creative life, as told through the items he chose to keep in his archive. You can get up close to:

  • Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust-era acoustic guitar, displayed for the first time
  • Handwritten cut-ups, lyrics and notes, revealing how songs took shape
  • Striking stage costumes that defined entire eras, from Freddie Burretti’s electric blue lightning bolt jacket worn on The David Bowie Tour in 1973 to the Natasha Korniloff-designed costume for his ‘Ashes to Ashes’ music video (1980)
  • Personal items including Bowie’s first instrument (a saxophone given to him by his dad in 1961), his 1988 British passport, the stopwatch he used for songwriting, and the microphone from his final live tour (A Reality Tour, 2003 – 2004)

  Together, these pieces tell a story of the process, the thinking, the experimentation, and the constant reinvention of Bowie the artist.

  3. Previously unseen material will be on show

  

  
  

  One of the most exciting aspects of David Bowie: On Tour is how many items have never been shown before. Over half of all items heading out on tour are being seen for the first time. Be sure to look out for:

  • Polaroids from make-up and costume fittings, capturing moments behind the scenes of music videos and films including Labyrinth (1986)
  • Unrealised project ideas, including handwritten concepts for films and performances that never happened, as well as Bowie’s handwritten synopsis for his proposed TV film called The Catastrophy Cabinet (1974-1975)
  • Notebooks, sketches and working documents, mapping out Bowie’s evolving ideas about the music industry

  These items reveal Bowie as a restless, curious creator, always planning, testing and imagining what might come next.

  4. Each Bowie era – from Ziggy Stardust to ★ (Blackstar)  – can be explored

  

  
  

  David Bowie: On Tour lays out key moments in Bowie’s career, revealing how dramatically he transformed his sound, style and identity. Eras explored include:

  • The Ziggy Stardust years, with costumes, lyrics and instruments that built one of music’s most iconic personas
  • The Berlin era, where experimental techniques, handwritten lyrics and concept art for the album that would become Low (1977) reveal a bold new direction
  • The global success of Let’s Dance, including unseen tour designs and studio material
  • Bowie’s final works, with haunting handwritten lyrics from ★ (Blackstar), performance notes and Bowie’s hand-painted costume for his ‘Lazarus’ music video recalling a previous shoot from the late 1970s

  Each offers a different lens on how Bowie reinvented himself and reshaped popular culture while he was doing it.

  5. It goes beyond music, into film, photography and Bowie’s restless imagination

  

  
  

  Bowie’s creativity extended far beyond his music. He was a multidisciplinary artist whose influence continues to shape culture today. Highlights include:

  • Storyboards, scripts and props from films including The Man Who Fell to Earth and Labyrinth and a script for The Simpsons that he politely declined 

  • Photography that helped define Bowie’s image, working with leading photographers from Mick Rock to Terry O’Neill

  • Video concepts and treatments, showing how Bowie approached music on screen and his collaborations with Floria Sigismondi for the ‘Little Wonder’ music video (1997) and ‘The Stars are Out Tonight’ video for The Next Day album (2013)

  • Personal plans and to-do lists with the workshops, interviews and museum visits Bowie had planned, revealing the scale of his ideas behind the scenes

  David Bowie: On Tour opens at V&A Dundee on 4 November 2026 before travelling across the UK into 2029.

  With never-before-seen material, iconic objects and an inside view into Bowie’s creative process as told through items in his own archive, David Bowie: On Tour is a chance to step inside the imagination of a truly original creative.

  David Bowie: On Tour has been developed by V&A Touring and V&A National Programmes, in collaboration with partner venues across the UK, and is curated by Harriet Reed, Curator of Contemporary Performance at the V&A. It is part of the V&A’s commitment to widening access to its collections, ensuring audiences across the UK can experience their national collections where they live.