The V&A has announced their next blockbuster exhibition, and it’s coming from the dark side of the moon. “The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains” is the first major international retrospective of the psychedelic band, and will look back on 50 years of audiovisual experimentation. Opening on May 13, 2017, it will be a multimedia exhibition celebrating a band with some of the most iconic sounds and imagery in rock music history.
Pink Floyd broke ground in the realm of live music, setting the bar for intense light shows and elaborate props throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. While visitors to “Their Mortal Remains” will only be able to experience these historical moments secondhand, the exhibition will include a custom laser light show.
Album cover for Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Image courtesy of the V&A. ©Pink Floyd Music Ltd.
The V&A teases the show as “an immersive, multi-sensory and theatrical journey through Pink Floyd’s extraordinary world.” On display will be more than 350 objects of ephemera, including handwritten lyrics and original designs, instruments, album covers, concert posters, stage props, rare live footage, and one very special machine: the Azimuth co-ordinator. Made by Bernard Speight, it was an early surround sound technology controlled with a joystick. Pink Floyd was the first—and nearly only—band to use it.
The exhibition coincides with the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s first single, “Arnold Layne,” as well as “Games for May,” a notorious May 1967 concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The theatrical performance included wood chopping, potato throwing, and bubble blowing, and got the band banned for life from the upscale concert hall.
V&A COO Tim Reeve, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, V&A Director Martin Roth, Exhibition Curator Victoria Broackes, Iconic Entertainment Studios Promoter Michael Cohl. Image courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Curating the exhibition are Victoria Broakes of the V&A, and Aubrey “Po” Powell, Pink Floyd’s creative director. The curatorial team also worked with Roger Waters and Nick Mason, the only living members of the band. Iconic Entertainment Studios, an event promotion and production company, will promote the exhibition.
“The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Our Mortal Remains” opens on May 13, 2017 at the V&A in London.
Tickets are on sale now.