This conference, which takes place in the Visconti Studio at Kingston University, invites proposals which offer a range of critical and creative responses to Bowie’s late-period work: his musical outputs; self-curation of persona and image, collaborations, media presence, death and posthumous reshaping of legacy in contemporary culture. The conference welcomes not only academic papers (from across all disciplines) but the work of creative practitioners whose work engages with Bowie’s late-period work and especially this final period.
Conference Details: Date: 11-12 September 2026
Venue: Visconti Studio, Kingston University, Kingston Hill Campus, KT27LB
Musical analysis and sonic signification
2013-2016 outputs as unified artistic gesture: self-referentiality, intertextuality and archival practices across the three final works
The Bowie/Visconti late-period collaboration and production aesthetics
Jazz, improvisation and the Donny McCaslin band
Music video as narrative and visual assemblage
Jonathan Barnbrook’s design work and visual identity
Lyrical themes: mortality, transience, morality, alienation, spirituality
Decoding/reading/responding to cryptic symbolism
Bowie biographies and critical examinations
Bowie’s death and responses to it
The performance of lateness and “late style” (including late vocal style)
“Living archives”: late stars and cultural memory
Fan responses, mourning practices, and memorial culture
The Bowie Archive and the curation of the Bowie Legacy
David Bowie’s live band from Glastonbury 2000 to reunite for charity gig
The shows on the banks of Loch Lomond will be part of a weekend that also includes a guitar auction and a black-tie gala dinner
The show is often hailed as one of the greatest in Worthy Farm history and in 2018, it was released in full for the first time as a concert film and album.
Now, it has been announced that the band – made up of guitarist Earl Slick, keyboardist Mike Garson, bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, multi-instrumentalist Mark Plati and drummer Sterling Campbell – will be playing together once again to mark the 10th anniversary of Bowie’s death.
The unique performances will take place at Cameron House on the banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland on November 7 and 8 as part of a two-day event titled ‘Bowie: Live on the Loch’, in aid of Save The Children.
The band will be joined by special guest performers during the show.
Speaking about the event and its Save The Children tie-in, Slick has said: “David had a lot of motivation to help out. It wasn’t a big bragging thing – it was just done. That’s what I loved about it. He did it under the radar. We all live in increasingly uncertain and turbulent times around the world. More kids need more help. So it’s time to do it and I cannot think of anything that David would rather lend his support to.”
