
Peckham Library
Peckham Library opened to the public on March 8 2000. The library was
designed by Will Alsop from Alsop and Stormer and it received the 2000
Sterling Award for architectural innovation. It also won the Civic Trust
Award in April 2002 for excellence in public architecture, along with
the London Eye and Tate Modern. With over half a million visitors a year,
it is the busiest of Southwark's lending libraries and issued over 317,000
items in 2002 to 2003. The library was designed to be striking, to make
people curious about what lies inside, and to challenge the traditional
view of libraries as staid and serious environments.
South London Gallery
Peckham's South London Gallery has an illustrious past and long standing
link with the pioneers of Brit Art make it a key global gallery destination
attracting experts, art students and fine art lovers the world over. Its
collection features specially commissioned work by mid-20th century modern
British artists, including John Piper, Christopher Wood and Duncan Grant.
In the 80s and 90s, the Gallery began to focus on the
latest developments in contemporary art, buying - with the help of the
Contemporary Art Society (CAS) - works by key names such as Antony Gormley,
Anish Kapoor and Tracey Emin. Recent exhibitions by internationally acclaimed
British artists such as Gilbert & George, Anselm Kiefer, Keith Tyson
and Steve McQueen makes the gallery one of London’s key art venues
Street markets
There are several open air markets in Peckham. Home to a large African
community Choumert Road and Parkstone Road are the place to go for African
fruit and vegetables fresh fish and also authentic African or Caribbean
cuisine. The latest addition to Peckham is Collyer Place market Sunday
market selling handmade arts and crafts. Peckham Square is transformed
into a handmade arts, crafts and specialist foods market. The new market
adds to the vibrancy and cultural identity of Peckham, celebrating the
creativity of its local residents and local artists’ talents. There
are also bargains to be had down Rye Lane where a flea market snakes down
toward the train station. Here everything from television sets, traditional
African textiles, fruit and veg can be found at knockdown prices!
Borough Market
Borough Market has been a wholesale market since 1014 and today continues
to serve famous London restaurants such as The Ivy and River Cafe. Its
revival as a retail market took off in 1999, and was indicative of a nation
wide renaissance of fresh, locally produced, traceable food. Borough Market
continues to satisfy Londoners' increasingly sophisticated palettes. Here,
farmers trade next to specialist shops such as Spanish importers Brindisa
and chocolate experts L'artisan du Chocolat. Ostrich from Gamston Wood,
Swedish delicacies from Scandelicious, fish and shellfish from Darren
Brown - who dives for them each week - New Forest cider, and upmarket
wines from Vinopolis, Borough Market hosts all of these in a thrillingly
convivial atmosphere.
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