From Odense to Seoul: Danish robots to interpret Hans Christian Andersen in a new special exhibition in South Korea
11 September 2026
This December, Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales and Danish robot innovation will merge at the prestigious Robot & AI Museum (RAIM) in Seoul. Odense Municipality, Museum Odense, and Danish Technological Institute (DTI) have been jointly invited to South Korea to create an interactive exhibition where robots from Denmark bring the iconic fairy tales to life. This is an international recognition of Odense as a global city of robotics and culture.
Robot arms in an interactive shadow play, joystick-controlled marionettes, and a robot gracefully arranging the many mattresses where the Princess and the Pea will soon sleep.
When the Robot & AI Museum in Seoul opens its doors this December for the exhibition 'Andersen Inside Out – Robots and Fairytales Meet', Hans Christian Andersen's world-famous fairy tale universe will be directly intertwined with robotics from Odense.
The Mayor of Odense, Peter Rahbæk Juel, states:
– It was right here in Odense that Hans Christian Andersen was born and found inspiration for many of his stories – stories that live on today across cultures worldwide. At the same time, Odense is home to one of the world’s leading and most groundbreaking innovation hubs within robotics. Bringing these two strong positions together at one of the world's most advanced technology and robotics museums in Seoul is fantastic proof of the international impact of Odense's cultural heritage and innovative strength. These are stories and innovations that reach far beyond the borders of the city and Denmark.
The exhibition is expected to attract up to 50,000 Korean visitors and is scheduled to come to Odense at a later date.
A tech-enthusiast fairy tale author
In his time, Hans Christian Andersen himself was deeply fascinated by cutting-edge technology – from the telegraph and the steamship to mechanical inventions, as notably reflected in the fairy tale "The Nightingale".
True to the author's spirit, Museum Odense has carried this curiosity forward in selecting the fairy tales that are now to be reinterpreted using modern robotics.
Head of Development at H.C. Andersens Hus, Mads Thagård Runge, says:
– It is obviously important for H.C. Andersens' House to present our international poet's creative and imaginative universe envisioned alongside contemporary forms of expression and issues. This cross-creative collaboration illustrates Hans Christian Andersen's mindset in a contemporary way, showing how vibrant and relevant he remains today. At the museum, we are thrilled about this collaboration and pleased to contribute to the exhibition and the story of Odense.
A new perspective on the potential of robotics
Robots are often associated with closed factory floors and automated industrial production, but in the exhibition at RAIM, robotics takes on an entirely new role as it moves into a museum setting.
The main protagonists of the exhibition are eight specially designed robots set to bring Andersen's classic fairy tales to life in new, sensory, and co-creative ways. This interaction with technology offers museum guests a unique opportunity to gain insight and a fresh perspective on the diverse applications of robots.
Henrik Jacobsen, Director at DTI in Odense, states:
– It is a fantastic seal of approval for Danish robotics that our local solutions are traveling all the way to Seoul to take center stage in a major international museum experience. Technically speaking, it is an incredibly exciting challenge to make advanced robotics and vision technology so intuitive and reliable that thousands of museum visitors can seamlessly play and learn with the systems. We are proud to show the world how high technology and classic cultural heritage together can create entirely new, creative experiences.