Wanderausstellung


Happily Ever After


Europe Illustrates the Grimms

The "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" (Children’s and Household Tales) by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm is the most widely translated and illustrated German-language work worldwide. Every year, a large number of new editions of these tales is published, many of which are illustrated in the tradition of Biedermeier-style paintings by Emil Grimm and Ludwig Richter. Images of German forests and medieval half-timbered towns have become firmly anchored in our collective memory as the typical fairy-tale scenery. Yet many illustrators have also  abandoned that pictorial tradition and pursued surprisingly different paths in their illustrations.

The exhibition "Happily Ever After. Europe Illustrates the Grimms" takes a look at a wide variety of contemporary European fairy-tale illustrations. A representative selection of fairy-tale editions from 13 countries shows how fairy tales can be modernized in a highly original, bold, and witty style free of old pictorial traditions. As in the fairy tale texts themselves, many things are possible in their visual interpretations: Little Red Riding Hood gets lost in the urban jungle (Roberto Innocenti), Hansel and Gretel wander through the forest as comic figures (Sophia Martineck), or the Bremen Town Musicians become militant labour leaders (Claudia Palmarucci).

The travelling exhibition invites visitors to rediscover the fantastic and the marvelous of fairy tales in enchanting and disenchanting pictures.


Content of the exhibition:
50 picture books on various fairy tales from 13 countries, 3 introductory panels, 21 picture panels for 7 stages, 7 signs (oval), installation "The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats"

Showcases are required for installation and selected books

The exhibition can be shown independently or in conjunction with the travelling exhibition "The Colourful World Beyond the Seven Hills. Seven Decades of Illustrations to Grimm's Fairy Tales".

Languages:
Picture books in several languages, text panels available in German, Korean, Russian and Chinese. Other languages upon request.


Next venues:
In cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Beijing / China:
25 January - 31 March 2024: North Coast Art Museum Changshu
The exhibition runs parallel to the exhibit "The Colourful World Beyond the Seven Hills"

7 June - 29 September 2024:
Kloster Heidenheim, Germany


Illustrations:
Maša Kozjek, from: "Volk in sedem kozličkov". Mladinska Knjiga, 2003
Arthur Leboeuf, from: "Le Loup de la 135e". Paris, Éd. du Seuil, 2008
Anna Laura Cantone, from: "Hansel e Gretel". Trieste, Ed. EL, 2009

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