Through The Seasons With Eric Carle | A New Exhibit at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation

Over the past weeks as we went to the Children's Library, we saw the new exhibit was being set up. Finally it was up and open to the public when we went there last Friday.

Through the Seasons by Eric Carle

Location: Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation
Qasr Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Eric Carle a the well-known children's author. One of his works was the the very iconic, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Apart from this very famous book, he also illustrated and wrote over 70 picture books, each one a visual feast of color and texture using his signature style- the unique use of collage.

He meticulously hand-painted papers, then cut and layered them to create his cheerful and engaging illustrations. Many of his books incorporate interactive elements, like die-cut pages and textures, transforming reading into a playful experience. His works left a lasting impact on many readers, and we are happy to have witnessed some of them during this visit.

We learned more and got to see some of Eric Carle's work during our previous visit at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation. It was impossible for us to miss this since it was at the same building as the Abu Dhabi Children's Library. The exhibit was at the ground floor, right next to the registration counter so we decided to check it out first before going up to the library.

It was nothing too fancy, but place was vibrant with all the colors popping all around. As usual, reading was encouraged as each season was described through the texts on the walls.

There was also a tree at the center with some of Carle's books displayed, and could be read by the visitors.

We sat at this tree for a while and read some books.

Navigating through each season.

Enjoying the harvests in autumn.	Hibernating in winter.

It's raining in spring!	Cooling off at the pond in summer.

Through the Seasons with Eric Carle is an exhibit that celebrates the five decades of Carle's work, since he published his work, The Tiny Seed. This chronicles the life cycle of a plant across the four seasons.

Let is follow along the seasons and find out what happened to this Tiny Seed.

Autumn.

The artworks displayed in this section of the exhibit show the changing of the colors in the surrounding when the leaves from green to golden until they fall from the trees. It is also the harvest season in many parts of the world, so there was also a pop up where some "produce" were on display and could be played with by the children who visited the exhibit.

It is Autumn.
A strong wind is blowing. It blows flower seeds high in the air and carries them far across the land. Once the seeds is tiny, smaller than any of the others.
Will it be able to keep up with the others? And where are they all going?

Winter

Now it is Winter.
After their long trip the seeds settle down. They look just as if they are going to sleep in the earth. Snow falls and covers them like a soft white blanket.

Moving on from the beautiful autumn season, we reached a frozen cave. We were hesitant to enter for the fear of the family of bears that lived inside. But wait, the bears should already have gone to hibernation at this point, shouldn't they?

Spring

Now it is Spring.
After a few months the snow has melted. It really is spring! Birds fly by. The sun shines. Rain falls. The seeds grow so round and full they start to burst open a little. Now they are not seeds anymore. They are plants.

I personally expected more from spring, a more vibrant pop-up, but there were none. The spring corner only had some rain drops overhead. I kind of hoped to see the new plants sprouting, and the birds, and the bees...

Summer

It is Summer.
Now the tiny plant from the seed is all alone. It grows on and on. It doesn't stop. The sun shines on it and the rain waters it. It has many leaves.
It grows taller and taller. It is taller than the people. It is taller than the trees. It is taller than the houses.

We turned and it was suddenly summer! The sun was present and there was a pond in the middle of the reeds. The kids checked it out and there were even small animals like fish, ducklings, and frogs!

At this point, Autumn was just around the corner again. The Tiny Seed had come full circle, and its journey shall start anew.

It was an interesting take on revisiting the seasons through colorful pop ups, informative wall texts, and interactive toys. My kids initially said, they were "too old" for this kind of place, but they undoubtedly still had fun (on some parts, at least. 😜)

Previous Exhibits at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation

Lobi Lobi Art Exhibit By Pascale Marthine Tayou : Bobo Land
Beit Beit Experience - Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation
Back in Time at Retro Toons Exhibit : Abu Dhabi Cultura Foundation