Apollohuis (Apollo house) on Tongelresestraat closed its doors for good on Sunday after 45 years. The building will contain apartments.
It served as an international platform for visual art, sound art, experimental music and performance from 1980 to 2001. In subsequent years, it was a venue for exhibitions.
From 26 October 2024 to 23 February 2025, Apollohuis held its last exhibition by former owner and famous visual artist Paul Panhuysen who passed away 10 years ago.
Art
Sunday was an eventful day for Apollohuis. The very last exhibition the art centre would ever have was opened by Mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem. The hall was packed with people. Paul Panhuysen’s wife, Helène, thinks it was special that the neighbourhood and the people she and her husband worked with for many years were present. “I think it was a beautiful farewell and I think it was super nice that the neighbourhood allowed us to share the art all these years”.
Some of Paul Panhuysen’s artworks on display during Apollohuis’ last exhibition are being put up for sale by the family. Van Abbemuseum has also taken over much of the archive.
History
In 1875, the building on Tongelresestraat was built as Nobel cigar factory. It went through a fierce fire and a crisis in the following years and was, among other things, furniture exhibition hall, temporary prison for arrested NSB members, warehouse and, from 1953 until the late 1960s, distribution point for the nationwide perfume chain Apollo. During the latter, the building acquired its white colour, which is still recognisable today.
When visual artist Paul Panhuysen bought the then perfumery in 1978 with his wife Helène and fellow artist Remko Scha, he used the building as an experimental arts centre for many years. The name Apollo remained and the building was officially opened to the public two years later as Apollohuis. Artists from all over the world were invited to share their artistic visions there. Panhuysen died in 2015, but Apollohuis continued to display his art at various exhibitions after his passing.
Future
Now, the exhibition spaces and studios are being converted into six new homes. Helène Panhuysen is confident that she has sold the property to a buyer who respects the building and its history:”I think it’s all good what they are doing, as long as they respect the building a little bit. Of course, it has a very rich history and it would be a shame if nothing more of it could be seen later”.
Tongelre residents themselves now have to make do with one less meeting place. “Something like that is always a shame for the neighbourhood. I understand that in connection with the housing shortage, the destination is changing, but it’s a shame that it comes at the expense of a cultural place”, a spokesperson for community centre ‘t Oude Raadhuis (the old council house) Tongelre says.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
