Fables from East and West: from Kalila wa Dimna to the Fables of La Fontaine

The literary genre of animal fables, which first originated in India and Greece in the first century BCE, was spearheaded by Ibn al-Muqaffa‘ in the Arab-Islamic world and Aesop in the Greco-Roman world.

Over millennia, fables have continually transformed and adapted from one language to another, resulting in many new works being created in both the East and West. Organised in partnership with Bibliothèque nationale de France and France Muséums, Fables from East and West will examine the roots and evolution of this genre through a showcase of illustrated manuscripts, paintings, contemporary works and more.