Laughing in a Foreign Language
Laughing in a Foreign Language explores the role of laughter and humour in contemporary art. In a time of increasing globalisation,
this international exhibition at The Hayward questions if humour can only be appreciated by people with similar cultural,
political or historical backgrounds and memories, or whether laughter can act as a catalyst for understanding the unfamiliar.
To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, there is a weekend of special events in the Bureau of Universal Merriment, including
film screenings, artist talks, laughter gym and multilingual karaoke. Comedy and laughter also take centre stage in several
spoken word events at Southbank Centre, complementing the new exhibition, where performances include a celebration of the
comedian Linda Smith and stand-up poetry from Luke Wright.
