The question of the beginning of the world runs like a red thread through Jürg Schubiger’s work. The estate of the author, who died in 2014, included the creation story, which is now being published as a picture book with pictures by Rotraut Susanne Berner and which, like much of Schubiger’s work, is aimed at adults and children and invites them to speak and philosophize together: Schubiger sets each one with the usual precision Word and lets you marvel at the possible interpretations that open up behind the linguistically reduced text, which is simple in the best sense of the word. Berner astutely reflects this diversity and shows a paradise in which scientific and religious ideas merge symbiotically. This succeeds not least because the images create a creative tension between place and time. While the place of action in the pictures always remains the same, time flies by, millions of years are covered in turning the pages. The temporal dimension that Berner shows in flora and fauna outlines the geological development from the global primeval ocean, through the dinosaurs in the Mesozoic to the domestic, farm and wild animals we are familiar with today. And yet the conversation between Adam and Eve that Schubiger tells about seems to last only a brief moment.
What would a person be without wishes and dreams?
It all begins one night in paradise when a man and woman lie on a cushion of moss and look at the starry sky. “There are countless,” exclaims Adam at the sight of the stars. “I could count them,” is Eva’s answer. A discussion ensues about possibilities and impossibilities, about eternity, which Eva quickly doubles and halves, and what one needs to live. “What more do you want?” Adam yells at Eva. “I don’t want more, I want less. We have nothing left to wish for here.” Her answer is as surprising as it is obvious. What would a person be without wishes and dreams? Would he be happy? It is – in addition to the heavenly tender end of the story and the grandiose pictorial interpretation of Rotraut Susanne Berner – existential questions like these that make this picture book so special and varied. (from 4 years and for everyone) Marlene Zoehrer
Jürg Schubiger and Rotraut Susanne Berner: One night in paradise. Peter Hammer Verlag 2022. 24 pages, 18 euros.