Five-liveried coin with a laughing portrait and the title "Made in Witzerland".

Made in Witzerland | A guide to Swiss humour

Exhibition | accessibility.time_to

accessibility.sr-only.body-term

Exhibition

Laughter in a museum? Why not! But what do the Swiss actually laugh about, and what do others find funny about us? These are just two of the questions raised in the exhibition “Made in Witzerland” on a remarkable journey through the world of humour, wit, and satire.

The rich multimedia exhibition takes a differentiated look at the funny side of Switzerland – featuring 19th-century caricatures, modern cartoons, and famed Swiss comedians such as HD Läppli and Clown Grock. In our TV lounge we show clips from popular Swiss comedy series and movies.

«Made in Witzerland» also addresses everyday humour, Swiss stereotypes and clichés, as well as socially and politically improper jokes. At the same time, it explores differences between male and female humour and looks at how children view and deal with irony and situational humour, all trenchantly presented in a surprising scenography. 

Media

Made in Witzerland – A Guide to Swiss Humour

Forum of Swiss History Schwyz | 9.6.2020 - 24.1.2021
published on 8.6.2020

What makes us Swiss laugh? And what do others find funny about us? The exhibition «Made in Witzerland - A Guide to Swiss Humour» at the Forum of Swiss History Schwyz explores what is at the heart of Swiss humour, from political satire to inappropriate jokes. From 9 June 2020 to 24 January 2021 the exhibition displays Swiss humour in all its facets with the help of multimedia presentations.

Wit and humour come in many shapes and forms. Jokes can be fierce, political, nasty, harmless, daring, even dirty at times. They are commonplace, but rarely banal. The multimedia exhibition «Made in Witzerland» takes a look at the funny side of Switzerland – featuring caricatures from the last three centuries, contemporary cartoons, and celebrated comical figures such as HD Läppli and Clown Grock. In our TV lounge we show clips from popular Swiss comedy series and movies. «Made in Witzerland» also addresses everyday humour, Swiss stereotypes and clichés, as well as socially and politically improper jokes. At the same time, it looks at the differences between male and female humour and investigates how children view and deal with irony and situational humour, all trenchantly presented in a surprising scenography.

Under the motto «how typical Switzerland ticks», the editorial team of the satirical magazine Nebelspalter and the Forum of Swiss History Schwyz invited a number of famous Swiss cartoonists to create their own, never shown before images of present-day Switzerland. These works, too, are on display in the exhibition.

Satire, wit, and humour are rarely the subject of an exhibition.
However, just like all other hallowed traditions and rituals, jokes make up part of a country’s intangible cultural heritage, reinvented and handed down through common parlance on an everyday basis. The exhibition «Made in Witzerland» lends a face to Swiss humour and makes it visible and tangible to viewers, thereby eliciting a smile or even a loud laugh from old and young alike.

Especially in view of the trying times the country faces under the coronavirus, the exhibition offers a refreshing counterpoint and reveals how fluid the boundary between seriousness, humour, and satire can be under difficult circumstances.

Images

Visual of the exhibition «Made in Witzerland»

© Swiss National Museum

Entrance to the exhibition «Made in Witzerland»

© Swiss National Museum

Oversized, hand-drawn cartoon by Marina Lutz at the entrance

© Swiss National Museum

The satirical magazine «Nebelspalter» within the exhibition

© Swiss National Museum

Humour does not stop at art – view of the exhibition

© Swiss National Museum

Clips from popular Swiss comedy series and movies are shown in the TV lounge

© Swiss National Museum

Playground: children’s humour and the spirit of the canton (countless are the jokes of one part of the country about the other)

© Swiss National Museum

The internationally known caricaturist CHAPPATTE (* 1967) with politically pointed cartoons about world affairs

© Swiss National Museum

Entry from 18 years: Women’s jokes about men, and men’s jokes about women in the «toilets» in the middle of the exhibition

© Swiss National Museum

Press contact Forum of Swiss History Schwyz

+41 41 819 60 18 medien.fsg@nationalmuseum.ch

Partner