Humor cubed – exhibition

“When it comes to humor, I’m not joking” – said Frigyes Karinthy (1887-1938), who started his writing career as a journalist and remained a writer of short, humorous writings until his death. As a matter of fact, the birth of the so-called “light” genre and its operating mechanism are much more complex than one could ever imagine.

When we were planning our current exhibition, we did not take into consideration one thing: we should have realized that we try to grasp a rather relative theme. It may depend on age, region or social groups, and even on individual taste, what makes us laugh out loud. As a result of experience gained during selection, we decided to use the title “Humor cubed” because, as regards the “humor factor” of the prints, we seemed to have discovered a sort of trinity. The first category includes documents which were funny even at the time of their publication and can make their viewers and readers laugh ever since. Our second group included prints which were meant to be serious but which can be regarded as funny by now. The third type of selected materials was meant to be funny at the time when they were printed. Today, however, these items are funny just because the viewer can discover a huge gap between the one-time intent and the final result.

In addition to selecting a “light” theme, we aimed at presenting as many document types as possible. Our selection includes image- as well as text-based documents, smaller- and larger-size prints, originating mainly from the period elapsing between the 1880s and the 1930s. To remain true to our theme, a funny poem inviting people to visit our exhibition was also written. Our guide made for the individual showcases informs visitors by entertaining rhymes.

Photos about the exhibition

The exhibition can be visited in the lobby of NSZL’s Collection of Posters and Small Prints on Floor 5, during the opening hours of the Library. The latest time you can enter is 1 hour before closure. Visitors who do not own a Reader Pass to NSZL can visit our temporary chamber exhibitions for a flat fee of HUF 400.