Of foxes and fables

"The cricket and the ant", "The hare and the tortoise", "The city mouse and the country mouse" or "The raven and the fox" - animal fables play a major role in the children's literary cosmos. In classic texts, animal characters make human (mis)behaviour visible and often formulate clear moral values. While classical fables were part of a fixed framework of norms and values, modern adaptations or new texts transport the fables into today. In doing so, they brush the concise messages against the grain in many ways by breaking them ironically, questioning them or turning them into the opposite. In this way, they remain, like their classical models, texts that call for reflection.

The exhibition presents fable texts and their illustrations: A broad panorama of fables and animal stories from all over the world is presented - for example, by John Kilaka from Tanzania, who creates his stories in the tradition of the Tingatinga style. Canonical fables in various historical, contemporary and international adaptations are also on display: The fable of the cricket and the ant was not only told by Aesop and La Fontaine, but also - with new textual and pictorial accents - by Leo Lionni with "Frederick" or Janosch with "The Fiddle Cricket and the Mole".

Last edited on 21.06.2025