Late Bowie: Legacy, Mortality and the Archival ImpulseInfo Location Contact More Info Event Information
DescriptionDavid Bowie's late period is one of the most compelling and enigmatic phases of a career defined by sustained artistic reinvention. It marked a profound re-engagement with identity, ageing and mortality. If his 2000 Glastonbury performance re-established his cultural relevance, his death in 2016 intensified his critical resonance, prompting renewed scholarly and public fascination. In his final years, Bowie created a body of work that revisited and reconfigured earlier personas while offering a carefully constructed meditation on legacy, authorship and mortality. Across The Next Day (2013), the off-Broadway musical Lazarus (2015) and ★ (Blackstar) (2016), he engaged directly with his own past and, through an extraordinary process of self-curation, with the prospect of his own death. These deliberately self-referential works reaffirmed the one persona that remained constant throughout his career: 'David Bowie'. Featuring brand new research and invited guests, the conference Late Bowie: Legacy, Mortality and the Archival Impulse celebrates Bowie's enduring legacy a decade after his death. It pays particular attention to the final works of his career, his archival afterlife (including the opening of the Bowie archive and Bowie Centre at V&A Storehouse, Stratford East, London) and his remarkable process of self-excavation and self-curation.
Event Location
ContactEvent Organisers: Leah Kardos - L.Kardos@kingston.ac.uk Matthew Melia - M.Melia@kingston.ac.uk More InformationLATE BOWIE: LEGACY, MORTALITY AND THE ARCHIVAL IMPULSE Provisional Conference Programme 5–6 November 2026 | Visconti Studio, Kingston Hill Campus, Kingston University DAY ONE — 5 NOVEMBER 2026 9.45–10.45 Registration 10.45–11.00
Welcome and Opening Address
11.00–12.00| BOWIE IN THE ARCHIVE
12.00–1.00 Lunch 1.00–2.00 Keynote: Harriet Read (ProjectCurator, David Bowie Centre , V&A East Storehouse) 2.00–2.15 Tea & Coffee
2.15–3.15 | BOWIE: AFTERLIVES AND MEMORIALS
3.15–3.30 Tea & Coffee 3.30–5.00 V&A BOWIE ARCHIVE WORKSHOP and talk by Claire Watt (Bowie Fellow, V&A) Archive workshop and discussion with Bowie Archivists 5.00–5.30 PLENARY: THE BOWIE AND THE ARCHIVE Roundtable discussion DAY TWO — 6 NOVEMBER 2026 9.00–10.00 Registration & Coffee 10.00–11.00 | BOWIE ON FILM
11.00–11.15 Tea & Coffee 11.15–12.15 | THE STARS ARE OUT TONIGHT: LATENESS, BOWIE AND CELEBRITY
through the archives of David Bowie 12.15–1.15 Lunch 1.15–2.15 BOWIELAND: Walking in the Footsteps of David Peter Carpenter (author) / Kevin Loader (British Film Producer, The Buddha of Suburbia (1993)) 2.15–2.30 Tea & Coffee 2.30–3.30 | NOTHING REMAINS: BOWIE AND ABSENCE
3.30–3.45 Tea & Coffee
3.45–4.45 | MY DEATH: BOWIE, MORTALITY AND RESURRECTION
4.45–5.45 Final Keynote: Jonathan Barnbrook (Graphic Designer and Film-maker) 5.45 Closing Remarks Leah Kardos & Matt Melia Venue: Visconti Studio, Kingston Hill Campus, Kingston University, KT2 7LB You can reach the venue by bus to Kingston Hill Campus from Kingston Town Centre K3 and 85 buses from both Norbiton station (K3), 85 (Putney) and K3 and 85 (Kingston Town Centre). It’s a ten minute bus ride from Kingston Town Centre. We recommend either the Premier Inn or the Travelodge in Kingston as accommodation.
After each conference there will be an opportunity for drink or dinner at The Albert (not included in the conference fee) (about a 10-15 min walk or a short bus ride down the hill). Recently Added | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
