A much-anticipated Nirvana exhibition is slated to open at the Royal College of Music Museum in London this summer, promising to be a standout event, particularly for fans of the grunge era.
The iconic guitar Kurt Cobain played during Nirvana’s historic MTV Unplugged performance will be the centerpiece of ‘Kurt Cobain Unplugged’, an upcoming exhibition in London.Recorded in November 1993, just five months before Cobain’s death, the acoustic session was released as an album in 1994 and earned Nirvana their only Grammy Award. This marks the first time the rare Martin D-18E guitar, which became the most expensive guitar sold at auction in 2020, will be shown in the UK.
“When I bought this guitar, my plan was for it to tour exhibitions worldwide, supporting performing artists,” says Peter Freedman AM, the Australian entrepreneur who purchased the instrument for over $6 million in 2020. “I’m thrilled that this vision will debut at the Royal College of Music in London in the form of the first such exhibition, benefiting talented musicians globally,” he shared.
Curated by rock journalist Alan di Perna and curator Gabriele Rossi Rognoni, the exhibition will run from 3 June to 18 November 2025 at the Royal College of Music Museum. Di Perna, expressing his excitement to be part of the Royal College of Music Museum’s inaugural rock music exhibition, remarked, “MTV’s Nirvana Unplugged in New York was a pivotal performance by a band that transformed the rock landscape in the 1990s.”
Also featured will be the olive-green mohair cardigan Cobain wore during the Unplugged performance, making this the first time these two items will be displayed together. Additionally, a collection of Nirvana memorabilia, including original gig posters, collectible vinyl records, and parts of Cobain’s musical equipment, will be showcased.
Last year, Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture faced criticism for its Nirvana exhibition, which used the term “un-alived” to describe Cobain’s death, a phrase intended to bypass social media algorithm censorship. Many saw parallels to George Orwell’s novel “1984” with its concept of “Newspeak”.
Tickets for ‘Kurt Cobain Unplugged’ go on sale on 30 April, with the exhibition set to run from 3 June to 18 November 2025 in London.
