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David Bowie is back in Berlin

Julie Colthorpe
Julie Colthorpe - [email protected]
David Bowie is back in Berlin
David Bowie exhibition at Martin-Gropius Museum in Berlin. Photo: DPA

The international exhibition that spans David Bowie's career across five decades opens its doors to the public this Tuesday at Martin-Gropius-Museum in Berlin.

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Curated by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), “David Bowie Is” is the fastest-selling exhibition shown by the London museum. The curators, Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh, have selected more than 300 objects that explore and document the singer's creative and musical odyssey, together with his many different artistic personas such as Ziggy Stardust.

Among the objects on display are original costumes, instruments, music videos, fashion, handwritten lyrics and set designs.

David Bowie lived in Berlin from 1976 to 1978, where he wrote and recorded the successful Heroes album, part of the Berlin Trilogy – Low, Heroes and Lodger, at the legendary Hansa Studios.

A special Berlin version of the exhibition has been curated for the German staging of "David Bowie Is", with an additional 60 objects from the “Berlin Years”.

Although short, the time he spent in Berlin is often viewed as the most innovative and productive period of his career.

Showcasing objects and photos from that era, the exhibition takes the visitor on a colourful and creative journey through Bowie's Berlin. Influenced by the vibrant Berlin nightlife, he drew on his experiences and the energy from Berlin's clubbing scene and his artistic friends, including Iggy Pop, as he broke boundaries with fashion, music and art.

The title song of Heroes was inspired by a doomed romance in the shadows of the Berlin Wall. As Bowie watched the lovers kissing under a watchtower, he penned the song which was to become his Berlin anthem and one of his best-loved songs.

In addition to the exhibition, dedicated Bowie fans can also take a music tour the Bowie Berlin Walk during the exhibition's run. The musical tour takes a journey around past the Hansa Studios, through Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie and to Platz der Republik in front of the Reichstag, where he held an outdoor concert in June 1987.

“David Bowie Is” will be officially opened by foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday and open to the public from Tuesday. The exhibition will run until August 10th.

SEE ALSO: Berlin's best street art - in pictures

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