LONDON ¨C The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has scored a victory with its exhibition ¡°David Bowie is...¡± for elucidating what many have probably always suspected: David Bowie is a bit of a Japanophile.
From the kabuki-inspired costumes for Bowie¡¯s early 1970s alien stage character, the famed Ziggy Stardust, to a page of notes mentioning a Japanese restaurant and hotel as sets for Nicolas Roeg¡¯s 1976 film ¡°The Man Who Fell to Earth,¡± in which Bowie played the role of yet another alien named Jerome Newton, there is no shortage of evidence of Japanese associations in Bowie¡¯s artistry.
Having shared with the museum aspects of my research on the influence of Japonism on Bowie¡¯s stage costuming, and participated in the museum¡¯s Bowie Weekender of events in April as well as lecturing at the first Bowie Symposium last October at the University of Limerick in Ireland, I entered the V&A¡¯s exhibition space two months ago and came face to face with ¡°Tokyo Pop Jumpsuit¡± designed by Kansai Yamamoto. The zig-zag-stitched Ziggy Stardust jumpsuit is a ¡°tear-away¡± costume as is much kabuki theater wear. And this story of Bowie¡¯s ¡°turning Japanese¡± continues throughout the exhibition.
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