Skip to main content

The single Where Are We Now? shows David Bowie is still capable of exploring new musical territory.MIKE SEGAR/Reuters

David Bowie is coming to Canada. The exhibition, that is. Tuesday the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto announced it will be the sole Canadian venue and the first stop in a proposed six-city international tour of the highly acclaimed, much-visited show that's been the talk of London for months.

The AGO show, which will feature more than 300 objects from the 66-year-old British protean pop singer's personal archives and much else, opens Sept. 25 and runs through Nov. 27. Don't go looking for tickets, at least not yet: the AGO says it's going to be "about another month" before prices are announced and on-sale dates determined. The gallery, which plans to house the exhibition on two large floors, also has not determined if admission will be on a specialty basis (as it was, for example, for its King Tutankhamun show of several years ago) or as part of general admission.

The show is currently running to sell-out crowds at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where it originated March 23 and will conclude Aug. 11. It's a multimedia show – as the AGO's will be – featuring generous examples of Bowie's work in (and influence on) fashion, theatre, film, art, sound and, of course, music. Included in the show are more than 50 stage costumes including the Ziggy Stardust boy suits designed by Freddie Burretti and Kansai Yamamoto's creations for the Aladdin Sane tour.

Besides Toronto, the only confirmed other city for the exhibition tour is Sao Paulo, Brazil, in early 2014. Meanwhile, there is no word if the reclusive Bowie, who quietly released a new album in May this year, will be attending the Toronto showcase. It's believed that to date he has done little or no media for the V & A show.

Interact with The Globe