Once upon a time there was a fairy tale – exhibition in Turku University Library
Saga, Muinaisjutt, Märchen, Cuento de Hadas, Fiaba… Fairy tales have different names in different cultures, but they are known all over the world. You might think they are just stories for children, but originally fairy tales were also told to adults. They were often intertwined with myths, legends and other types of stories.
To celebrate the 200-year anniversary of famous Finnish story teller, Zachris Topelius, the newest exhibition of Turku University Library introduces fairy tales from all around the world, in different versions and from many eras. The exhibition is a part of a 2018 thematic exhibition series on fictional worlds – later exhibitions will deal with speculative fiction and comics.
Parts of the new exhibition can be seen at almost all units of Turku University Library. In Feeniks Library the emphasis is on Finnish fairy tales. In Teutori Library Indian fairy tales are introduced and in Turku School of Economics Library Russian fairy tales. In Educarium Library fairy tales and fairy tale elements deriving from African continent are presented, as well as their later development into Disney products. The topic of the exhibition in Quantum Library are the new versions of classic fairy tales.
Text: Ilmari Jauhiainen