A comic biography by Nicolas Mahler

We are delighted to be presenting the poster exhibition Komplett Kafka in cooperation with the artist Nicolas Mahler and the Literaturhaus Stuttgart to mark Franz Kafka’s anniversary year 2024.

Franz Kafka not only wrote prose, he was also passionate about drawing: ‘You know, I was once a great draughtsman’, he wrote half ironically, half proudly to his long-term fiancée Felice Bauer in 1913 about his artistic ambitions.

Drawing had once given him “more satisfaction than anything else”. So what could be more fitting than to honour him on his centenary with a comic biography? And by Nicolas Mahler, who has a similarly minimalist drawing style?

Mahler presents Kafka’s life and work in an inimitably amusing and poignant way and does not shy away from the really big questions: Why did Kafka’s plan to write a series of cheap travel guides fail? Who wrote the sequel to one of his most important works, ‘The Metamorphosis of Gregor Samsa’? And what was the story behind the ‘white slave’? The answers and much more can be found in Komplett Kafka. (Source: Suhrkamp Verlag)

Opening hours of the exhibition:

Wednesday – Friday 16:00-19:00
Saturday 11:00-14:00
(Closed on 9 and 16 November)

Language: German, English

Accompanying educational material

This comic poster exhibition introduces young learners of German to Kafka and his works, as well as the art of Nicolas Mahler, and also brings the themes addressed by Kafka into the world they live in today.

Didactisation Complete Kafka | Worksheets for the poster exhibition