''Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains'' is a touring exhibition of the history of the British rock band Pink Floyd, opening on 13 May 2017 (with a museum members'

preview Preview may refer to: Theatre, film, television * Preview (subscription service), an early subscription television service in the United States * Preview (theatre), a public performance of a theatrical show before the official opening * Previe ...

on 12 May) at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in London, England, and originally scheduled to run until 1 October. After high visitor numbers, the exhibition's run was extended by two weeks, to 15 October 2017. It followed the V&As successful '' David Bowie Is'' exhibition. Pink Floyd Their Mortal Remains - 2017-10-13 - Andy Mabbett - 60

Pink Floyd Their Mortal Remains - 2017-10-13 - Andy Mabbett - 60

Naming and marketing

The exhibition's title reflects the lyric "I've got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains", from the song " Nobody Home", on ''

The Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...

''. It was promoted with media appearances by all three surviving band members ( David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Roger Waters), and designer

Aubrey Powell Aubrey Powell may refer to: *Aubrey Powell (designer) Aubrey Powell (born 23 September 1946) is a British graphic designer. He co-founded the album cover design company Hipgnosis with Storm Thorgerson in 1967. The company ran for 15 years u ...

; as well as the flying of an inflatable pig over the V&A, and at the BBC's Broadcasting House.

Content

Treating the band's history in chronological order, the exhibition ends with their 2005 reunion at

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...

, with footage of the band performing "

Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd from their eleventh album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a single in 1980, with " Hey You" as the B-side. The music was composed by guitarist David Gilmour. The lyrics were ...

", using specially-remixed audio, delivered via AMBEO, a

Sennheiser Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG (, ) is a German privately held audio company specializing in the design and production of a wide range of high fidelity products, including microphones, headphones, telephone accessories and aviation headse ...

3D audio technology, over 17 channels and 25 speakers, seven of which are

subwoofer A subwoofer (or sub) is a loudspeaker designed to reproduce low-pitched audio frequencies known as bass and sub-bass, lower in frequency than those which can be (optimally) generated by a woofer. The typical frequency range for a subwoofer i ...

s. Objects shown include documents such as a page from Nick Mason's diary for 1968 and a 1975 tour rider, a "flower petal" shaped mirrorball used from 1973 to 1975, instruments, plus equipment including the Azimuth Co-ordinator and the band's Binson Echorec Baby effects unit. There are several props from the 1980 and 1981 ''The Wall'' concerts, including the face masks worn by members of the 'surrogate band', to make them look like Pink Floyd. Also on show are a hand-written letter from Syd Barrett to Jenny Spires, his then girlfriend; and his bicycle.

Future touring

The organisers plan to tour the exhibition internationally, for up to ten years. In November 2017, it was announced that the second venue would be

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy, opening on 19 January 2018. The Los Angeles exhibition was originally scheduled to begin in August, 2021. It was delayed for 3 weeks due to global shipping delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The show opened on September 3, 2021 instead. In October 2022, it was announced that the exhibition would be shown in Montreal, Canada, from November 4, 2022, to December 31, 2022.

Attendance

By late August 2017, the London exhibition had been seen by 300,000 visitors and was extended by two weeks to 15 October.Pink Floyd exhibition set to become V&A's most visited music show
''The Guardian''. 30 August 2017.

Venues

References

External links

* {{Pink Floyd May 2017 events in the United Kingdom Exhibitions in the United Kingdom Museum events Victoria and Albert Museum Pink Floyd