When can the exhibition Between Forms | Helga Gebert be seen?

The special exhibition can be seen from June 12, 2026, to January 24, 2027, at the GRIMMWELT Kassel.

What does the exhibition show?

Over 200 works by Helga Gebert will be on display, including fairy-tale illustrations, original stories, biographical materials, and interactive stations.

Is the exhibition suitable for children?

Yes. A riddle trail for children and interactive elements provide young visitors with a playful access to the image worlds.

Are there guided tours of the exhibition?

Yes. The GRIMMWELT offers guided tours of the special exhibition. A public tour costs 5 euros or 3 euros reduced plus admission.

Where is the GRIMMWELT Kassel located?

The GRIMMWELT Kassel is located at Weinbergstraße 21, 34117 Kassel.

Is there an exhibition catalog?

Yes. A catalog with 256 pages and 250 color images has been published for the exhibition.

Helga Gebert's Fairy-tale Image Worlds Open New Perspectives on Stories and Memory

Name: Between Forms | Helga Gebert
Start: 2026-09-27T10:00:00+02:00
End: 2027-01-24T18:00:00+01:00
Location: GRIMMWELT Kassel

Between Forms: Helga Gebert's Fairy-tale Image Worlds at the GRIMMWELT Kassel

In the special exhibition BETWEEN FORMS | HELGA GEBERT. Telling in Image and Word, the GRIMMWELT Kassel opens a fascinating space for thought and experience between illustration, literature, and cultural memory. The exhibition makes visible how images continue, resist, and retell stories – and how familiar fairy tales change through color, form, posture, and facial expression.

A Pioneer of Modern Children's and Youth Literature

Helga Gebert, born in 1935 in Freiburg im Breisgau, is considered one of the influential illustrators and authors of the renewal of German-speaking children's and youth literature in the 1970s. At the Beltz & Gelberg publishing house, she developed her own fantastic narratives and illustrated fairy tales from the Children's and Household Tales of the Brothers Grimm as well as from One Thousand and One Nights. Her works combine poetic imagery, subtle humor, and a keen observation of human and fantastical figures.

When Images Change Stories

The exhibition examines the dynamic interplay of word and image. More than 200 works, including numerous previously unpublished pieces, guide viewers through Gebert's image and fairy-tale worlds. Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, dragons, and genies appear not as fixed figures, but as mutable beings between cultural tradition and contemporary interpretation.

The examination of the works focuses on central questions of illustration: How does a character come into being? What does a posture convey? How does a facial expression change the perception of an action? And at what point does an image begin to reinterpret a familiar story? The aesthetic experience arises from the tension between familiarity and irritation.

Poetic Spaces for Adults and Children

The exhibition combines art-historical contextualization with interactive cultural education. Biographical insights, information about Gebert's sources of inspiration, and stations highlighting her working methods deepen the engagement with her diverse body of work. A riddle trail invites children to explore the exhibition playfully and develop their own approaches to the stories presented.

The atmosphere of the exhibition also thrives on the interstices: between drawing and narrative, historical fairy-tale sources and personal stories, literary texts and artistic freedom. Gebert's illustrations translate narrative structures into visual spaces, where lines, figures, colors, and compositions become independent narrators.

Curatorship and Cultural Context

The exhibition curated by Hanna Krüger presents Helga Gebert comprehensively for the first time in a solo exhibition. It showcases not only well-known fairy-tale illustrations but also her own children's books, biographical traces, and examples of her political and social engagement. This results in a nuanced portrait of the artist that recognizes illustration as an independent art form and a contribution to cultural understanding.

The accompanying publication, featuring 250 color images, consolidates scholarly perspectives and personal memories of Gebert's biography, working methods, and impact. The exhibition project thus opens up an expanded understanding of painting, drawing, visual narration, and literary adaptation in children's and youth literature.

Conclusion: An Artistic Experience Between Fairy Tales, Memory, and Present

Between Forms invites art enthusiasts, families, and literature lovers on an inspiring journey through Helga Gebert's fantastic worlds of figures. Visitors can expect an exhibition that makes familiar stories readable with new eyes and allows the aesthetic power of illustration to become tangible. Anyone wishing to explore the relationship between image and word, fairy tales and the present, art and cultural education should experience this special artistic event live at the GRIMMWELT Kassel.