“Something better than death can always be found”: the journey of the Bremen Town Musicians in search of a dignified life is marked by hope and pragmatism. Two hundred years ago, the fairy tale was first published in the second edition of the Brothers Grimm's Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children and Household Tales, 1819). Donkey, dog, cat and rooster went through a great variety of pictorial representations – from early book illustrations, kitsch and commerce to fine art. Even if the animals from the fairy tale never make it to Bremen, they have since become an integral part of Bremen's identity and its cityscape and a symbol of courage and solidarity.
Together with the Bremen Staatsarchiv and as part of the City Musicians Summer, the Kunsthalle Bremen will host a comprehensive exhibition to trace the path of the four animal protagonists: from historical precedents to the fairy tale, from the written word to the visual form, from the city to the museum and from Bremen to the world. In addition to a wide range of historical images and popular culture items, works by Gerhard Marcks, Maurizio Cattelan, Jeff Koons, Ayse Erkmen, Glenn Ligon, Hiwa K and many others shed light on the artistic treatment of beloved animals and fairy tale themes.
(Cover image: Maurizio Cattelan, Love Saves Life, 1995, and Love Lasts Forever, 1998, Kunsthalle Bremen – Der Kunstverein di Brema, © Maurizio Cattelan)
