Hahaha. The Humour of Art

This artistic revolution started in 1917 with an overturned urinal. This ordinary urinal was called Fountain by Marcel Duchamp and was declared a work of art. Although this was intended as a joke, this ordinary piece of plumbery has had a lasting effect on art. Humour took on a definitive role in the the kingdom of the beauty with, as a result, a beneficial upheaval in the creation and it announced the transition from modern to contemporary art. A century later, this is still regarded as a major breakthrough in art history.

What would the art of the 20th century have been without this liberating joke, providing a sense of lightness in a world that took itself too seriously? The exhibition "Hahaha. The humour of art", organised in collaboration with Centre Pompidou and ING Belgium, revolves around several themes: caricatures, puns, art as toys, hoaxes, parody, mockery and buffoons. In this exhibition, you will discover how artists embrace humour in their works and how they have broken away from the tradition to propose new forms.

From the Great Zwans Exhibition (1885) to Dadaism, from Lolo the donkey to Marcel Duchamp's Readymades, from Man Ray to Marcel Broodthaers, Hahaha takes humour seriously.