The Bremen Town Musicians is a universal tale of four neglected, itinerant animals who find work playing music in the harbor city. A story of the search for dignity, it has long inspired artworks now showing in Bremen.
“There once was a man who had a donkey.” So begins The Bremen Town Musicians, the fairy tale published by the Brothers Grimm in 1819 as part of their famous collection of stories.
This 200-year-old classic, with its underlying themes of poverty, migration and solidarity, has never lost its relevance, and has been a particular source of inspiration for artists over the years. Whether through children’s books, plastic or paintings, artists have dived into the tale’s deeper layers.
The Kunsthalle Bremen is now showing a selection of such artworks in the exhibition “Animal Uproar: 200 Years of the Bremen Town Musicians in Art, Kitsch and Society.”
Image courtesy of Gimhongsok/Kukje Gallery
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