'The Spectator,' the secret project David Bowie was working on before his death

David Bowie died in 2016, two days after releasing his final album, "Blackstar," leaving behind a legacy that continues to reveal surprises . In his final months, he had also begun another project whose existence was unknown even to his closest collaborators.

The unfinished production, titled "The Spectator," reveals Bowie's fascination with satire and the urban culture of 18th-century London. His references include contemporary criminals, such as the thief "Honest" Jack Sheppard. According to the BBC, when the musician died, the walls of a room in his New York office were covered with sticky notes about this project. They remained hidden until his personal archive was inventoried.

The entire archive was donated to the V&A Museum and will be on display for the first time this fall at the new center dedicated to the artist, which will open in Stratford, east London. The V&A has collected more than 90,000 objects, including costumes, instruments, diaries, and lyrics . The new center, open to the public free of charge, will allow visitors to explore this vast legacy and gain insight into the artist's creative process. "We want to bring visitors closer than ever to Bowie and how he worked," Madeleine Haddon, the collection's chief curator, told AFP.

In addition to The Spectator, the center will feature guest-curated exhibitions. Producer Nile Rodgers , Bowie's collaborator on Let's Dance , has selected costumes, previously unpublished photographs, and personal correspondence. The band The Last Dinner Party will also participate, highlighting pieces from the 1970s and Bowie's influence on new generations of musicians.

The discovery of this previously unreleased musical adds an unexpected chapter to the artist's story, whose work ranged from classics like 'Space Oddity' and 'Heroes' to the melancholic 'Where Are We Now?'.