A CONTROVERSIAL landmark is set to be given international recognition when it is replicated for a prestigious overseas exhibition.
Renowned Swedish artist Peter Geschwind, a senior professor at the Royal Instiute of Art in Stockholm, wants to copy every detail of the Peterlee-based Pasmore’s Apollo Pavilion, which has divided the local community.
It will be a focal point of an exhibition to be held at the Tensta Kuntsthall art gallery, in Spenga, Sweden, in the autumn.
Mr Geschwind will be in Peterlee tomorrow with the art gallery’s director Maria Lind to meet members of the Apollo Pavilion Community Association (APCA) and discuss the structure.
The 1969-built concrete pavilion was designed using Scandinavian styles of architecture and a lot of homes in Sweden are similar to those in Peterlee, with flat roofs.
The art gallery was built in the 1970s, based on futuristic design such as cubism.
Apollo Pavilion Community Association chairman David Taylor-Gooby said Mr Geschwind and Ms Lind’s visit was going to be “quite a feather in our cap”.
Mr Taylor-Gooby added: “We are very pleased that the pavilion is attracting international attention, and our efforts to promote it seem to have paid off. “It certainly puts Peterlee on the map and we should be proud of it.
“Peter will be looking at the pavilion, measuring it and talking to us, and getting hold of the plans if he can.
“We are so pleased we are getting international recognition, the pavilion is a fantastic work of art.” He added that the pavilion, which was restored after years of vandalism, was “part of our history and shouldn’t be neglected”.
“The association has done a lot of work in schools and since the lottery money there has been far less vandalism and people now respect it.”
Mr Geschwind will be visiting the pavilion at 1.45pm and the public are welcome to go along.
For further information, contact Mr Taylor-Gooby on 0779 3114037
Comments