‘Sesame Street: 50 years and counting’

As a collective cultural asset, Sesame Street reflects ongoing social change.

First aired in 1969, Sesame Street was the brainchild of Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, and featured a novel entertaining format that combined storytelling with educational content. In the show, human actors played alongside Jim Henson’s Muppets.

Celebrating a show that brought diversity, acceptance, education and modernity the exhibition that has a 700 sq m footprint within the museum and offers an insight into the show’s creation inviting visitors to immerse themselves into the world of Bert, Elmo and Cookie Monster. While also exploring the show behind the scenes, the displays focus on the show’s design, with special attention to the craftsmanship behind the production, exploring the creation of puppets, sets, costumes and music.

‘For the first time ever, an exhibition looks at Sesame Street from the point of view of design,’ says MK&G director Tulga Beyerle. ‘The makers of the show get a chance to speak up, providing fascinating insights into the production of this unique entertainment format. As a collective cultural asset, Sesame Street reflects ongoing social change. The innovative talent displayed by the producers thrills me, and the design approach today is as inspiring as ever on the path toward an open and tolerant society.’

Never before have so many original Sesamstraße puppets been on view in Germany, representing a total of 16 characters, among them the superstars Bert and Ernie, Elmo and Cookie Monster and also Bibo, Abby Cadabby and the long-lost characters Rumpel, Tiffy and Herr von Bödefeld.

The exhibition is supported by the Exhibition Fund of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the Hubertus Wald Foundation and is being produced in cooperation with NDR. With kind support from Annegret and Claus-G. Budelmann and Edgar E. Nordmann (†).

‘Sesame Street: 50 years and counting’ is on view at MK&G until 7 January 2024

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