The UPF Barcelona School of Management is one of the main collaborators for the international tour of David Bowie is, the major exhibition on David Bowie and his work appearing at the Design Museum of Barcelona.

A true icon of pop, David Bowie was a multi-disciplinary musician and artist who was passionate about literature and fashion, as well as an actor, the subject of documentary films, and a cultural reference point for multiple generations. His image in itself represents taking on challenges, constant questioning of the status quo, experimentation, freedom of expression in its broadest and most cross-cutting sense, creativity, and reaction to change. These are values that the UPF Barcelona School of Management consider our own, and we work hard to transmit them to our students.

It is in this context that, through our academic experts, we have decided to analyse the work and persona of David Bowie from the perspectives of various academic disciplines, as our way of approaching and understanding the artist. This is a multi-faceted view meant to provide a deeper consideration of the multi-disciplinary talent of one of the great artistic icons of the 20th century.

Aware of the fact that our modern society is complex and interconnected, and that the great challenges of our world cannot be confronted from a single perspective, taking Bowie as an example is especially useful for the value it gives to a cross-cutting and multi-disciplinary approach to education, for placing an academic seal on our city’s cultural initiatives, and for promoting awareness of transformational individuals such as David Bowie.