One of the world’s most beloved bunnies will hop into Norfolk this autumn, inviting visitors to celebrate a very special birthday. From Saturday 11 October, an exhibition at Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth will explore the world of Miffy, the adorable rabbit created by Dutch artist and illustrator Dick Bruna, as the iconic character marks her 70th anniversary with a new exhibition.
Silkscreen print miffy and melanie (2002), Dick Bruna ©Mercis bv
Miffy’s 70th Birthday will feature a collection of more than 50 screen prints, films, manuscripts, pencil drawings and paintings that illuminate Bruna’s creative process from initial sketches to final book designs, alongside stop motion models from the TV series Miffy and Friends. In addition, a series of immersive installations will invite visitors of all ages to step into Miffy’s world.
The exhibition is split into two sections. The first room explores the design process of Dick Bruna through drawings, screenprints and posters for Miffy as well as other creative projects including his early work designing book covers for his father’s publishing company A.W. Bruna & Zoon, mainly for the popular Black Bear pocket editions. Also on show are posters designed for charitable causes including the Red Cross, and illustrations of other book characters including Boris Bear, Poppy Pig and Snuffy.
Original puppet from the stop-motion series miffy and friends (2003-2005), Dick Bruna ©Mercis bv
The second room brings Miffy to life through life sized editions of some of the illustrated icon’s most popular books ‘miffy goes to stay’, ‘miffy in the tent’ and ‘miffy at school’. Activity areas based on each of the books will invite visitors to play hide-and-seek among the trees, see inside Miffy’s schoolroom and explore her friend’s house.
Silkscreen print miffy cutting (2001), Dick Bruna ©Mercis bv
Visitors will be invited to play and use their imaginations to create their own stories using puppets, drawings and colour. These sets based on the books will be displayed alongside the original sketches, acetates, manuscripts and typescripts of the three titles. These displays will shed light on Bruna’s unique creative processes which involved tracing drawings onto watercolour paper and then using the groove to guide his paint brushes when painting to create his characteristic “shaky” lines. He then cut out shapes of paper in specially created colours to place in between the lines.
Miffy with balloon (1986), Dick Bruna, ©Mercis
Originally created on June 21, 1955, Bruna first drew Miffy to entertain his young son whilst on a rainy seaside holiday in Holland, telling him stories about a rabbit which ran around the garden of their holiday home.
The acclaimed series of picture books which followed used simple illustrations and rhyming text to explore universal childhood themes, with Miffy becoming globally synonymous with friendship, innocence, fun and design. Instantly recognisable because of their iconic and deceptively simple illustrations, their distinctive sturdy square covers and their unique colour palette, Dick Bruna’s books have been printed more than 85 million times over the years. The books have been translated into more than 50 languages and are read by children all over the world.
