Babel, Babbel & Bananer – Lennart Hellsing’s joyful world
13/5-12/11/2017
The exhibition painted a vivid portrait of the doyenne of Swedish children’s literature. In the various rooms of the exhibition, visitors were treated to a cavalcade of music, verses and images from Hellsing’s works. You could enter Hellsing’s world of wordplay and imagination, take it in, be inspired and make your own mark. For those seeking knowledge, there was every opportunity to delve deeper into Lennart Hellsing’s life and work as an author, debater and reviewer.
Babel, Babbel & Bananas- Lennart Hellsing’s joyful world
Lennart Hellsing and Astrid Lindgren have been called the ‘King and Queen of Swedish children’s literature’, an epithet they deserve not only for their prolific writing careers but perhaps above all for their importance to the reshaping of children’s culture in Sweden. As an author, reviewer and debater, Hellsing had a significant impact on the transformation of Swedish children’s literature in the 1940s.
A colourful exhibition
Hellsing is a good starting point for both spreading knowledge about our literary heritage and conveying the importance of daring to break traditions, question conventions and create freely. Hellsing saw the children’s books as a work of art, in which image and text were equally important, rhythm and melody were at the centre and each spread was its own world in which to lose oneself. At the same time, many of his verses and stories share a simplicity and familiarity with everyday life, in which vegetables, shoes, reels of thread and pastries play the main roles.
