Beginning May 10th, a spectacular collection of Bob Dylan memorabilia will be on display in Tulsa, South America. 100,000 items from the legendary folk musician are on display.
US-American folk legend: Bob Dylan
In 2016, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, acquired truckloads of photos, papers and audio recordings of the American Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The resulting Bob Dylan archive is estimated to be worth up to $60 million.
The Bob Dylan Center opens on May 10th
At the time, many people wondered why such a large portion of Dylan's estate was auctioned off by one of the wealthiest families in the United States. It wasn't until 2021 that she announced: Large parts of Dylan's legacy are to be exhibited at the Bob Dylan Center.
The fact that the new museum is opening in Oklahoma's second largest city, Tulsa, is apparently entirely in the interests of the now 80-year-old artist. In an interview with Vanity Fair, he commented favorably on the decision: life on the US coasts is “vibrant”, but he himself, who hails from Minnesota, has always preferred the “casual buzz of the interior”.
Collection unique in the world
The three-story Bob Dylan Center exhibits more than 100,000 items that Bob Dylan once owned – or created – over the course of seven decades. This includes handwritten lyrics to some of his greatest songs, previously unreleased recordings and never-before-seen photos and films, artwork, and other items.
100,000 items from Bob Dylan's private collection are on display at the Bob Dylan Center
The museum wants to give an “intimate insight into the artist's working process,” according to the website. A multimedia installation deals with Dylan's life from childhood in Minnesota to becoming a world-famous folk musician. In a recreated studio, you can recreate what a record “feels” like.
There will also be a movie theater at the Bob Dylan Center. Films are to be shown there in which Dylan can be seen as an actor, for which he composed the music or which reconstruct his life. For example Martin Scorsese's Dylan biography “No Direction Home” (2005), the documentary “Don't Look Back” about Dylan's UK tour in 1965 or the feature film “Pat Garrett hunts Billy the Kid” (1973), for Dylan wrote the soundtrack.
Video installation at the Bob Dylan Center
In Living Legend Museum
The patron of the museum is the oil billionaire George Kaiser, who was born in Tulsa. He is one of the richest entrepreneurs in America. His fortune is currently estimated at around ten billion dollars. A large part of this goes to the George Kaiser Family Foundation, which is primarily committed to combating child poverty. According to Business Weekly, this makes him one of the most generous philanthropists in the USA.
Oil billionaire George Kaiser ( center) is patron of the museum
Before his foundation bought the Bob Dylan memorabilia in 2016, it also acquired memorabilia of folk singer Woody Guthrie in 2010. The Woody Guthrie Center was opened in 2013, not far from where the Bob Dylan Center now stands. Bob Dylan should be fine, judging by his statements, Guthrie had a formative musical influence on him.
It's no coincidence that an entire museum is now being dedicated to folk musician and “National Treasure” Bob Dylan. In the course of his unique career, Dylan has sold more than 125 million records worldwide and written some of the most popular songs of the 20th century and 11 Grammy Awards, the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The The value of the Bob Dylan archive is estimated at up to $60 million
Star line-up for the opening
In the run-up to the museum's opening on May 10, three star-studded concerts were held. Patti Smith, Elvis Costello and gospel legend Mavis Staples all gave concerts a few days before the Bob Dylan Center opened. For all three, Bob Dylan was a musical inspiration.
He himself will not appear at the opening. However, it was recently announced that a 16-foot-tall metal sculpture, designed and built by Dylan himself in his studio, will adorn the center's interior entrance.