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Artist News Education & Events
Southbank Centre announces 50th anniversary celebration of David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 28 February 2023
The Southbank Centre in London has announced a celebration of the 50th anniversary of David Bowie’s ‘Aladdin Sane’ album, with talks, performances and a two month exhibition exploring the record’s iconic artwork.
“We’re honoured to pay tribute to David Bowie, who made his Southbank Centre debut in 1969”, says the venue’s Artistic Director Mark Ball. “The ‘Aladdin Sane’ album cover portrait is considered to be one of the most influential pop culture images of the past half century, and the music remains fresh and contemporary, so we wanted to recognise this major anniversary and reflect on the album and its artwork’s enduring legacy”.
“It’s a work that continues to inspire today’s contemporary artists and the gender fluidity of the images still resonate deeply in queer culture in the UK and across the world”, he adds.
The artwork exhibition will run from 6 Apr to 28 May, and has been curated by Chris Duffy, son of the photographer who took the distinctive lightning flash portrait, Brian Duffy. It will explore the music scene of the time, and the relationship between Bowie and Duffy that led to the January 1973 photoshoot.
“My father’s image of Bowie is often called the Mona Lisa of pop”, says Duffy. “It’s important to remember it was the result of a short studio shoot using film, which then had to be sent out for commercial processing. There were no instant digital images or Photoshop then. It’s extraordinary how it’s lasted and been endlessly reworked. Wherever I go in the world, it’s always somewhere on a t-shirt”.
Alongside the exhibition, Duffy will also publish a book on 30 Mar called ‘Aladdin Sane 50: The Definitive Celebration Of Bowie’s Most Iconic Album And Music’s Most Famous Photograph’. It will include previously unseen photographs from the shoot.
Back at the Southbank Centre there will be a separate free exhibition looking at Bowie’s history with the venue, from his performance at the then newly opened Purcell Room in 1969, through later performances alongside Lou Reed, and his curation of the Meltdown festival in 2002.
Then, on 21 Apr, there will be a live performance in the Royal Festival Hall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of ‘Aladdin Sane’, with Jake Shears, Anna Calvi, Tawiah, Roxanne Tataei and Lynks joining the Nu Civilisation Orchestra to perform the album in full. The influence of Bowie will be further explored with DJ collective Queer House Party also playing on 21 Apr and Afro-Caribbean inspired Queer Bruk playing a mix of dancehall, afrobeats and soca on 22 Apr.
That same weekend, there will be a series of talks and poetry events, including conversations with Chris Duffy, as well as the co-curators of the V&A’s ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition, Geoffrey Marsh and Victoria Broackes, plus Paul Burston and Golnoosh Nour talking about the cultural impact of Bowie’s androgyny and subversion of gender identity. There will also be spoken word performances from Luke Kennard, Keith Jarrett, Golnoosh Nour and Mark Waldron.
Tickets go on sale on 1 Mar. Find out more here.
The announcement of the ‘Aladdin Sane’ celebrations comes just days after the V&A museum in London announced that it had acquired Bowie’s archive. It plans to display the collection of more than 80,000 items in a newly created David Bowie Centre For The Study Of Performing Arts at V&A East Storehouse in East London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. That is set to open in 2025.
