Fantasy: Realms of Imagination

Fantastic exhibition at the British Library looking at the genre of fantasy.

I thought I didn’t really do fantasy but went round getting very excited at things that I knew eg the Cotton Beowulf, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a costume from Wicked. Goodness, I have eclectic tastes!   

It was themed but by the end it had covered all the bases and you could piece the chronology together. The themes basically covered the archetypal themes from fairies, though quests, via forests to world building.

The show used books, manuscripts, games and more to tell the story. I loved the use of playing Steeleye Span’s Thomas the Rhymer next to a 15th century manuscript of the story.

I came away with lots of things to look up and ideas of new books to read!

Closed 25 February 2024


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