A good joke can be a powerful weapon

Last April 1, the exhibition opened in Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo It’s not a joke. The opening was not a joke, the exhibition is about jokes. The date is semi-to-support, it came out just like that, but it certainly fits perfectly with the theme. In the group exhibition, various (visual) artists have been brought together, who each use humor in their own way, with its own medium and from their own view.

You should not want to explain a good joke, but upon entering you will be put on the right track with a classic. Monty Python’s is on a screen The World’s Funniest Joke from 1969. The sketch is about a joke that is so funny, that everyone who hears or reads literally lagged. The British army decides to translate the joke into German and, very successful, to be in during the Second World War. The point is clear: a joke can be a powerful weapon.

Laughing is healthy

Curator Sjors Bindels, born and raised in Venlo, wanted to do something with humor for some time: “At first I thought more in the direction of health. Here in the region we are dealing with aging and a low level of education and the accompanying health problems. The initial working title was ‘laughing is healthy’. But the artists who had been exempted by all those that all went very well, those all that all that, those that were all more sought, those who were very softened, those who were all very softening, those who were all very gene. what the political power of art is. « 

Like the computer game Road to Schengen by the Moroccan artist Salim Bayri (1992). Here you play a migrant who tries to build a life in the Schengen area. Already collecting residence documents you walk on an endless road – the frustrating bureaucracy can be felt if your documents have expired again and you cannot collect new ones soon enough. But also emotional aspects such as homesickness, family problems and loneliness play a role – your crying mother missed you, you have to help your father ‘at home’ with his company, whether your documents have gone. If you are lucky, you can stay. If you are ‘game over’ then you can, despite the encouraging ‘Try Again!’ Give up anyway. The game gets extra expressiveness from the realization that this ‘game’ is the daily reality for many migrants.

Loving criticism

There is also a work by the British Sarah Lucas (1962) who already made use of humor in her committed work in the 1990s. With its installation Bitch (1995) She comments on the sexualization of women. A table with a T-shirt on, dangling melons at the front, a smoked fish between ‘legs’-the audience cannot escape this objectification.

But there is more, much more. Like the installation The Merciful Bever From the Polish Agata Siwek (1972) in which she provides clever and loving criticism of the Catholic Church. Or the Moroccan Ghita Skali (1992) who confronts the public with his own prejudices with its installation of watering down (or are they butt cleaners?). Animation, photography, mural, video, installation, ceramics slippers, it is a multitude of media and styles within the exhibition. And with the perfection of a well -timed joke, your attention is drawn to a sign on the wall that starts with the text: « You would almost miss the little mouse. » And indeed on the floor, at a plinth a small, white mouse is sleeping quietly, unconsciously of its vulnerable position. The belly goes up and down quietly. This moment of stilling is a work by the English artist Ryan Gander (1976). Take Confidence in Your Abilities It is called. And, Timing is Everything, after this you can try it yourself in ‘the self -mockery’, a corner of the room that is set up for the public.

Self -mockery

In the self -mockery, the audience can get started, including with conversation cards, laughing mirrors and projects with a number of artists from the exhibition, such as Willem de Haan.

Bindels: « As a museum we have the ambition to address a broad target group. We believe in public participation. So not that we explain what art is, but that you make contact first. We do that with the public, in the hall. But we also find binding with our environment very important, so we use humor to talk to people from the neighborhood. »

There is a large screen in the self -mockery with ‘funny’ videos over the years. From older television fragments to memes and tick movies.

« We hope that young and old will talk to each other, » says Bindels. « Humor just differs per generation. Young people really don’t laugh at Toon Hermans anymore. But what they see on Tiktok movies and Memes. There is a big difference in that. Nowadays you hardly hear anyone tapping anymore. »

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