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David Bowie on the Trans-Siberian Express


The Wende Museum in Culver City is presenting David Bowie in the Soviet Union. This fascinating exhibition of photos documents rock legend David Bowie’s train trip through Siberia to Moscow in 1973. After a concert in Yokohama, Japan, Bowie, who had a phobia about flying due to a fortune teller’s prediction that he would die on a plane, suggested he and members of his entourage take the Trans-Siberian Express train en route to Paris via Warsaw and East Berlin. Band member and one of Bowie’s oldest and closest friends, Geoff MacCormack has captured intimate unguarded moments of their adventure on the Trans-Siberian Express to Moscow where they participated in drinking sessions with sailors and soldiers, meeting fans, and providing impromptu performances. They stayed in Moscow for two days, visiting the Kremlin and the GUM department store and attending the May Day parade. The exhibition also includes David Bowie’s film The Long Way Home, which documents various stages of their trip including their time in Moscow during the May Day Parade In a separate gallery the museum is presenting Vietnam In Transition, 1976 – present. This exhibition explores the multi-layered intersections of art, history, and memory in Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War, known in Vietnam known as the American War, and national reunification. This exhibition presents contemporary artwork reflecting on various aspects of Vietnamese postwar history, interspersed with historical artifacts and documents from everyday life. Both exhibitions on view until October 22, 2023 https://wendemuseum.org


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