The Museum of Childhood
Relations with the wide world
The fifth exhibition, the fifth room
31 October – 30 November 2012, the Irina Nicolau Room
The National Museum of the Romanian Peasant
Many fairy stories begin with the son of an emperor or a peasant running away into the wide world to seek his fortune. Others tell of infants driven away from home, so that all trace of them will be lost or so that they will perish in the wide world. Once outside the small, familiar world of hearth and home, the children can expect anything, from miraculous encounters with fantastical animals, monsters or fairies to hidden treasures or misfortunes.
In fairy stories… But what about in real life? Any one of us can recall moments when we wanted to leave home with a knapsack on our back or when we even did so. Any one of us can recall the heroic sense of freedom, followed by the fear of the unknown. It is only then that children begin to remember the magic sayings or gestures for getting out of an impasse, which they have learned from others: spit over your shoulder if a black cat crosses your path, whisper to the barking dog, “the key to the padlock on your mouth is in my hand”, and so many others…
Join us in an adventure of discovery, about Fearless John, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and children of yesteryear and today, in the Relations with the wide world exhibition.
