David Bowie<\/a>\u2019s final project has been unveiled as an \u201c18th century musical\u201d set in east London<\/a>, which even his closest collaborators were unaware of.<\/p>\n Sticky notes of the project, called The Spectator, were found locked in the late singer\u2019s study in 2016.<\/p>\n They have now been donated to the V&A Museum<\/a> along with the rest of Bowie\u2019s archive, including original costumes and handwritten lyrics.<\/p>\n The notes were shared with the BBC and show Bowie\u2019s fascination with the evolution of art and satire in the 18th century.<\/p>\n In the late 1700s, fashionable society became a popular target for satirical prints and comic illustrations, which mocked or critiqued the rich and famous. The heart of this thriving trade was in the West End<\/a>, where such prints were produced and sold year-round.<\/p>\n Bowie\u2019s notes make mention of the Gordon Riots of 1780 \u2014 a week of widespread violent anti-Catholic disorder which was ignited by a Protestant Association led by Lord George Gordon. Protests were sparked by the Catholic Relief Act of 1778, which granted limited civil rights to Catholics, including acquiring and inheriting landed property.<\/p>\n David Bowie performing at Live Aid in 1985 (PA Archive)<\/p>\n He also mentions criminal gangs and notorious thieves, including Jack Sheppard, whose escapes from Newgate prison made him a popular, albeit controversial, figure.<\/p>\n Had Bowie\u2019s musical been completed, it would have marked the fulfilment of one of his lifelong ambitions.<\/p>\n “Right at the very beginning, I really wanted to write for theatre<\/a>,” he told BBC Radio 4 in 2002.<\/p>\n Drawing for Space Oddity album artwork, by Bowie, 1969, which has been donated to the V&A (V&A\/The David Bowie Archive)<\/p>\n “And I guess I could have just written for theatre in my living room \u2013 but I think the intent was [always] to have a pretty big audience.”<\/p>\n Bowie also starred <\/a>as John Merrick in The Elephant Man in 1980 and received critical acclaim for his performance.<\/p>\n His notes for The Spectator were found pinned to the wall in his office in New York.<\/p>\n The room was always locked and only Bowie and his personal assistant had access, so they were left undisturbed until archivists started cataloguing his work.<\/p>\n One of Bowie\u2019s tour posters which has been donated to the V&A (V&A\/David Bowie Estate)<\/p>\n His notes will be available for fans and scholars to view when the David Bowie Centre opens at the V&A East Storehouse in Hackney Wick on September 13.<\/p>\n Madeleine Haddon, Curator<\/a>, V&A East said: \u201cBowie embodied a truly multidisciplinary practice \u2014 musician, actor, writer, performer, and cultural icon \u2014 reflecting the way many young creatives today move fluidly across disciplines and reject singular definitions of identity or artistry.<\/p>\n \u201cHis fearless engagement with self-expression and performance has defined contemporary culture and resonates strongly with the values of authenticity, experimentation and freedom that we celebrate across the collections at V&A East Storehouse.<\/p>\n Bowie applying makeup as Ziggy Stardust in 1973 (V&A\/Mick Rock)<\/p>\n \u201cMade possible through the generosity of the David Bowie Estate, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music<\/a> Group,this archive offers an extraordinary lens through which to examine broader questions of creativity, cultural change, and the social and historical moments during which Bowie lived and worked.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the Centre, we want you to get closer to Bowie, and his creative process than ever before. For Bowie fans and those coming to him for the first time, we hope the Centre can inspire the next generation of creatives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
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