The photographer was surprised to see his album cover in the Pave Maijanen commemorative competition: \”The work is great, it’s mostly about fair play\”

/ Culture

In the photo combo, the portrait of Pave Maijanen is on the left, the contours of Maijanen's silhouette on the right. In both pictures it says MAIJANEN in the upper left corner.
On the left is the album cover designed by Stefan Bremer and on the right is a sculpture proposal from Albumi.

The city of Lappeenranta is looking for a creator for Pave Maijanen’s memorial work through an art competition. One of the final pieces uses Stefan Bremer’s work from 1984.

The work proposal has been submitted to the anonymous art competition by the name *Album*. The description of the competition work states that it is based on a Maijanen album from 1984.

According to Stefan Bremer, the work proposal came as a surprise to him. The matter became public when Bremer wrote about it on Facebook. Helsingin Sanomat has previously reported on the topic.

\”The work is great\”

Bremer describes that he was puzzled that the author of the work proposal did not contact him in advance.

– I think the work is great. The closest issue is fair play, that the author would have contacted and asked if such a work is suitable. I would have said it’s fine – and I could say even more if we’re in good contact, Bremer tells Yle.

Pave Maijanen's portrait has been created as an opening for the competition work. In the visual image, the work proposal is placed in Rantapuisto in Lappeenranta.
The competition piece has an opening in the shape of Pave Maijanen’s portrait. In the observation picture, the work is placed in Rantapuisto in Lappeenranta.

He has no demands, for example, for the work proposal to be withdrawn from the competition, and he does not intend to take any further action because of the work proposal.

– If by chance this wins, I think it should be mentioned that it is based on Stefan Bremer’s album cover from 1984.

No changes to the competition

The city of Lappeenranta is looking for an art competition in memory of Pave Maijanen, who died in 2021 and is originally from Lappeenranta. The competition is conducted anonymously in accordance with the competition rules of the Finnish Artists’ Association.

The works selected for the final are currently being commented on in a survey organized by the city, and the winning work will be announced in November.

– Changes to the competition rules cannot be made in the middle of the competition. The rules are given to us by the responsible party, i.e. in this case the Finnish Artists’ Association, Talka says.

He reminds that at this stage the competition works are only proposals.

When the selection of the winning work is being prepared, the city will clarify questions related to the practical implementation of the work and, for example, copyrights in cooperation with the Finnish Artists Association.