Stockholm - A Swedish film director known for his work with Madonna is to make a video montage for an upcoming touring exhibition featuring memorabilia from former Swedish pop group ABBA, organizers said Wednesday. Jonas Akerlund who has also worked with U2, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Metallica and Roxette has won several Grammy and MTV awards.
"I will be using a lot of the old footage," Akerlund said in a statement. "Working with these masterpiece videos now, in 2009, makes me realize that ABBA's music has stood the test of time."
ABBA's "music is as relevant and strong today as ever and that is what I want to communicate with the montage for the exhibition," he added.
The tour, known as ABBAWORLD, is due to premiere in Europe later this year. A dedicated website is to open September 1.
The interactive touring exhibition is to feature music, original costumes, instruments, photos and memorabilia not shown before.
Former ABBA members Anni-Frid Reuss (formerly Lyngstad), Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog have provided many items.
The idea for a touring exhibition was hatched after plans for a museum dedicated to ABBA in Stockholm were postponed.
ABBA had their international breakthrough when they won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Waterloo.
They have sold an estimated 370 million albums, and still sell 2.3 million a year, even though it has been two decades since they released their last joint album.
The soundtrack from the movie Mamma Mia! featuring ABBA hits has also scored success on the charts.
