TALL TALES - Of Myths and Fairy Tales

Stories have long lives. More than 200 years ago, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm began notating children’s stories and local legends in Germany. Although this world-famous collection wasn’t recognized at first as a  cultural treasure, it now marks a key turning point between historical oral storytelling and modern fairy tale culture.     
 
Fairy tales, like those collected by the Brothers Grimm, exist in all cultures. Their origin is often unknown, underscoring their close link to mythology. The German multimedia artist, Ryan Anders, traveled in Thailand’s southernmost provinces searching for stories, legends and myths. With support from students at local universities he struck up conversations in cafes, at people’s homes or simply on the open road. The result is an audiovisual story collection with tales from Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala. In December 2020, Ryan Anders will be publishing a sequence of selected stories from this collection and compliments this group of Thai stories with German fairy tales from his hometown, Aachen. The result is an interplay of stories, not simply a rehashing of narratives. This is because these tales remind us of almost forgotten epochs, relicts and traditions, particularly essential for the cultural self-identity of minorities.

These stories will be published between the 3rd and 23rd of December 2020 on the Goethe-Institut Bangkok’s Instagram channel.