Over 20,000 tickets sold to Bowie exhibit after his death

Following the death of musician David Bowie, the Groninger Museum quickly sold an additional 20,000 tickets to their extensive exhibit on the music legend. An increase in foreign media visits to the museum are also expected, according to Dagblad van het Noorden. The museum expanded its opening hours on Saturdays until 10 p.m., Groninger Museum spokesman Regina Zwaagstra told the NL Times. This continues until the exhibit’s scheduled end date of March 13. A further extension of the Groningen museum's opening hours is possible, and visitors are advised to check the museum’s website, Facebook and Twitter accounts for further details. “Over the months of working on the exhibition ‘David Bowie is,’ we’ve come to feel as if he were a personal friend. We are greatly saddened, and our sympathy goes out to David Bowie’s family, friends and fans,” Zwaagstra said. The museum staff is not alone. Up through Sunday, the exhibit had an average of about 40,000 visitors per month. The massive increase in ticket sales left staff with mixed feelings. “The interest in the museum and the exhibition is of course wonderful, but the reason remains terrible,” said the museums’s communications chief Karina Smrkovsky. “We cannot change it, you do not want to profit from it,” but the added attention is automatic, she said to Dagblad van het Noorden. “David Bowie Is” could move on to another city after it closes in Groningen, but the Groninger Museum is considering keeping the exhibit for longer.