‘Freedom, Bordeaux 2019’ cultural season
The Museum of Bordeaux presents the exhibition Laugh! produced by the association ART’M as part of the ‘Freedom, Bordeaux 2019’ cultural season. Are smiling, shared laughter and guffaws obvious expressions of freedom? Is laughter exclusive to humans? What happens in our bodies when we laugh?
In the Laugh! exhibition, visitors will laugh at their own observations. They will get to question their own laugh but also the laugh of other species.
According to scientists, we laugh 18 times a day on average. Laughter is therefore an important response in our everyday lives. Involved in our social relationships and teaching children, we find it in all cultures, across the social spectrum and through the ages. Laughing creates bonds, expresses agreement and displays a positive emotion. Laughter is even said to be good for our health!
It was generally believed that laughter was exclusive to humans. In the past, we believed that laughter was linked to the conscience and human language and consequently inaccessible to animals. Today, this subject is being re-examined in a number of studies on animal communications, language of other species and their forms of intelligence. Research is also being carried out on laughter in mammals such as monkeys and rats. As Darwin posited, laughter (or the equivalent response in other animal species) is a source of group cohesion.
This exhibition offers a host of fun, laughter-inducing experiments. Interacting with the public, the different modules will help you understand this everyday phenomenon that is as old as humanity.
Whether you come with friends or family, alone or among strangers, the Museum of Bordeaux invites you to explore how you and others laugh!