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BraveWords was on hand for the launch of a Pink Floyd artifact museum show in Toronto called Their Mortal Remains, which launched June 16, 2023 and will be here through October. On hand for the media event were MC David Marsden, CEO of the Canadian National Exhibition Association Darrell Brown, producer Bob Ezrin, promoter Michael Cohl and chief organizer of the extravaganza, Aubrey “Po” Powell, who also is celebrating the release of Squaring the Circle, a documentary concerning his album design company Hipgnosis.

The show features a mass treasure trove of Pink Floyd memorabilia, in similar fashion and style to the David Bowie Is travelling installation, both which started at the Victoria & Albert in London—Their Mortal Remains has just ended a successful run in Montreal.

“First of all, we had to have a name for the exhibition,” relates Powell. “So I called Roger. He’s a brilliant wordsmith, as we know, and he came up with Their Mortal Remains, which is a lyric from The Wall (ed. ‘Nobody Home’). And it’s so poignant, and so Roger—it’s dark.”

Asked about features within the show he is most proud of, Powell recalls, “One of the elements that we found was in Cambridge. Storm Thorgerson, my partner in Hipgnosis, and Syd Barrett and Roger Waters all went to the same school. Paula (Webb Stainton; co-curator) went to the school to see what other artifacts we might find. And there’s a teacher who used to teach them many years before. And he said, ‘Oh, I’ve got the caning records.’ Well, in British schools, in those days, caning was a regular occurrence, particularly with these three renegades. In his book, you’ll see, ‘Roger Waters - fighting, Syd Barrett - truancy, Storm - throwing water. Give ‘em six of the best.’”

“But even better than this cane book, the school teacher actually had the cane, which beat the boys. And you’ll see this. And Roger almost burst into tears when he saw it. It was so impactful upon him, because that story reflected on The Wall. And when you see the inflatable teacher in there with the cane, that’s where it came from—the school days. So there are very emotive parts of this exhibition that actually played an important role in the development of the band and the creative forces behind it. And I hope you’ll enjoy it—and welcome to it.”

As for the totality of the show, Po was able to get carte blanche from Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason to produce it while they busied themselves with music, each in possession of thriving and separate solo careers.

“When the guys saw it, they embraced it,” muses Po, showing it to the guys only when it was completed and installed in the V&A. “I walked around it with them, separately, at various times, and they were deeply moved by it. Because when you go in, you will see their legacy and their history. And everything you can see, they’ve touched. And the memories came flooding back. You know, walking around with Roger, he was almost tearful, looking at the elements of Syd Barrett. And I have to say there were one or two artifacts that came up as a big surprise. In the Syd Barrett location, in the early years that you can see when you enter the exhibition, there’s a drawing that Syd did on a train journey with Roger, when they were about 19. And it’s a proposition about what their band would look like, just a sketch. And who would have thought, maybe 60 years later, that would have come to fruition. And here we are celebrating that little drawing.”

See pinkfloydexhibition.com for ticket information.