Red Hood - Blue Beard: Colour in Fairy Tales

• Wonderful illustrations from famous fairy tales
• Accompanies the exhibition at GRIMM World, Kassel, November 2019 - March 2020
• The first in-depth examination of the meaning of color in fairy tales

The eye of the beholder is fascinated by colors. Their symbolic and cultural historical meanings, which have often developed over centuries and are reflected in various narrative forms, are found to be equally fascinating. Thus in traditional folk tales and in literary fairy tales, colors are not just attributes or superficial manifestations but rather have a deeper significance. Why, for example, is the head covering of a little unimposing girl, of all things, red, and why is the beard of a knight who kills women blue? Why does Cinderella wear grey clothing, and what power does Peter Schlemihl's sold shadow have? The publication traces - color by color - these and other exciting questions, all richly portrayed with numerous prints and illustrations from historical fairy tale books.

This book accompanies an exhibition at GRIMM World, Kassel, November 2019 - March 2020.

Text in English and German.

Sabine Schimma (b. 1969) studied cultural sciences, specializing in media, and obtained her PhD at the Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar on aesthetics and experiment in Goethe's color studies. She has curated several projects for the Klassik Stiftung Weimar. She has been working at GRIMMWELT Kassel since 2017.



Peter Stohler (b. 1967) studied art history, film studies and arts management. From 2005 he was head curator of the Haus für Kunst Uri in Altdorf, Switzerlan, from 2006 director of the Centre pour l'Image Contemporaine in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2007 commissary for cultural projects in the City of Basel's Department of Culture and from 2013 director at the Kunst(Zeug)Haus Rapperswil, Switzerland. Stohler has been director of GRIMMWELT Kassel, Germany, since 2018.