''Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains'' is a touring exhibition of the history of the British rock band

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

, opening on 13 May 2017 (with a museum members' preview 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 ''David Bowie Is'' was a touring museum exhibit displaying history, artifacts and information about the life, music, films, tours, and art of English singer-songwriter and actor David Bowie. The show opened in March 2013 at the Victoria and A ...

'' exhibition. 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 "Nobody Home" is a song from the Pink Floyd album ''The Wall''. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd''. Background "Nobody Home" was written late into the development of ' ...

", on '' The Wall''. It was promoted with media appearances by all three surviving band members (

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...

, and

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

), 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 un ...

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

Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The main ...

Content

Treating the band's history in chronological order, the exhibition ends with their 2005 reunion at Live 8, with footage of the band performing " Comfortably Numb", using specially-remixed audio, delivered via AMBEO, a Sennheiser 3D audio technology, over 17 channels and 25 speakers, seven of which are subwoofers. 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 The Azimuth Co-ordinator was the first panning control for a quadraphonic sound system, at that time a new concept. Pink Floyd became the first band to use it in their early shows. The Azimuth Co-ordinator uses four rotary rheostats housed in a ...

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 Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

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