A Big Exhibition Honors a Big Life ... Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Celebrated at The Little Prince and the Pilot at HKUMAG
You may know that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was French and you also may have seen The Little Prince as Le Petit Prince, but did you know that TLP was first published not in the author’s native France, but in the country where he was living in “self-imposed exile” —the USA. In 1943 New York's Reynal & Hitchcock published TLP in both English and French. (Four days before the book went on sale in the USA, Saint-Exupéry departed the USA to participate in the North Africa campaign.) It was not until 1946 (after his death in 1944) that the book was able to be published in France, following the country’s liberation from the Nazis and the Vichy government.
Since then, TLP, which in its first six months of publication in 1943 sold “nearly” 30,000 English and 7,000 French copies, has been translated into more than 500 languages, more than any other secular book. Something about the story, the artwork, and the wisdom the book holds, has universal appeal, traveling around the world like its own sort of airplane. Like the book at the heart of The Little Prince and the Pilot at HKU’s Museum and Art Gallery, the exhibition, in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the book's publication in France, truly has something for everyone/ il y en a pour tous les goûts —thanks to its photographs, documents, original writings, artifacts and artwork, including the colorful sculptures that are like a life-sized pop-up edition of the novella. There is political history (specifically WWII), aviation history, the personal life of Saint-Exupéry, insights into his creative and “meticulous ” editing process (he was so detailed and involved that “[p]ublication was repeatedly delayed”), and of course art that brings it all to life. It is a big exhibition befitting a man who, in so many ways, was larger than life.
Map of the Exhibition: A Timeline of Saint-Exupéry's Life
A comprehensive timeline of Saint-Exupéry’s life — think approachable scrapbook festooned with photos, documents, and Saint-Exupéry’s drawings, rather than boring school textbook — greets you at the start and provides context for the rest of what’s on view. When I read TLP in French class, I don't think I knew much about Saint-Exupéry other than that he was a pilot. I had no idea that he was born to an aristocratic family, that he showed engineering talent at the age of 8, that he had initially envisioned a career in the French Navy, that after failing the Naval Academy entrance exam, he undertook military service as a ground crew member for the France's 2nd Air Pursuit Regiment, and then earned both his civilian and military pilot’s licenses. I didn’t know he had written movie storylines and other books that won awards, that he was awarded 11 French invention patents and one US patent, and that he flew for Aéropostale, which later became part of Air France. I certainly knew nothing of his incredible and brave opposition to the Nazis, and that he had lived in the USA in self-imposed exile. All of this is even more astonishing when you consider that he accomplished all of it in only 44 years of life.
“It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly,
then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.”
The Little Prince
Personal Life and Heroism in World War II
After exploring the timeline, there are a number of different routes to take. No matter where you venture, the museum boards and individual object boards continue to provide context for what’s on view. You can extensively explore Saint-Exupéry’s family life and learn about his childhood through a myriad of objects including photographs of him with his five siblings, photos with his wife, letters he wrote to his mother, and the kind of typewriter he used.
Then there is the story of his opposition to the Nazis. This part of the exhibition is like an instruction manual on heroism and bravery —from fighting combat missions to leaving France when the Vichy government came to power, to calling on the French people to unite and fight the enemy (the actual letter is on display), to his urging the US to join the fight, to the War Cross with Palms he was awarded posthumously “in recognition of the three commendations he received.” One of his three citations describes him as: “A pioneer of aviation, through his unfailing tenacity and thoughtful daring, he has brought new glory to the French Air Force. An ardent fighter pilot, he demonstrated in 1940 and 1943 his passion for service and his faith in the destiny of the Fatherland.” It also notes the importance of his books, “[h]e expressed his love for action and the generosity of his ideals in a literary work that ranks among the most important of our time and which celebrates the spiritual mission of FRANCE.”
“On 22 May 1940, coming under heavy fire from intense and powerful anti-aircraft defences, he only abandoned his mission when his aircraft had been seriously damaged, He is a model of duty and self-sacrifice to the unit’s personnel.”
“On 29 June 1944, having been forced to shut down one engine due to mechanical trouble during a mapping mission, he managed to return his aircraft and the intelligence gathered after flying over more than 250 kilometres of enemy territory and 200 kilometres of sea.”
—Military Citations from 1940 and 1944
Sculptural Magic
The wonder of a pop-up book is that it literally makes the story leap up from the page, but the reality is that, there’s still a page — the reader can’t truly wander inside the 3-D world. In this exhibition, the curators have turned the very large square room on the second floor of the T.T. Tsui Building on Bonham Road into an exploratory sculpture garden: Around the perimeter of the very large space are original drawings, 21 different language editions, and museum boards sharing details about the creation and publication of TLP. At the center, almost like their own solar system, are the beautiful life-size figures. There’s enough room to look at them altogether as one composition as well as walk around and study each one.
“All grown-ups were once children – although few of them remember it.”
The Little Prince
Up, Up, and Away
With GPS and satellite navigation part of everyday life, glamorous airports resembling shopping malls, and planes that are flying computers, it can be hard to recall aviation and communication history, a history that our kids may not even be aware of or appreciate given that email and a cell phone allow nearly instant connection to another part of the world. Did you know that international air mail only started around 1918? Flying was more precarious because planes were different (many of Saint-Exupéry's patents were aviation-related), and maps were pen and ink affairs. One of the last sections of the exhibition transports visitors back to those days. “Vintage” (though actually authentic) posters, letters he delivered while flying for Aeropostale, and maps he used — interesting to see the names of countries and which cities are listed, share this broader aviation (and geographic) history through the lens of Saint-Exupéry’s involvement.
A Word to the Wise
The exhibition, which I visited in late June, closes Sunday, but you can continue to explore it on HKUMAG’s detailed magazine where a detailed digital version lives.
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