Storm

“Men hvad må vi så?”- Humorous art for children

8. October 2022 - 31. October 2023

With the new exhibition Men hvad må vi så? STORM – the museum for humor and satire focuses on the Danish tradition of creating humorous art for children. In the exhibition, the children and their adults meet a number of well-known works and figures, but there is also room for play and conversations about what is fun.

Denmark is internationally known for its tradition of humorous art for children, in books, television, theatre, drawings and films. It is a tradition which we are proud of. Even when the works are cheeky and challenging. Like when Onkel Reje fights with ninjas and is canceled by Google due to the fact that he is too violent. Or when the figure “John Dillerman” causes a furor all the way from South America to Norway because of his long red and white-striped penis.

“Men hvad må vi så?” one could ask – with a quote from the children’s song “Fy fy skamme”. And that is what STORM does in the new exhibition on humor in art for children.

A playful exhibition
Men hvad må vi så? invites new generations to STORM for a playful exhibition, on their own terms. Here, the works do not necessarily hang on the walls, and you are welcome to tinker and participate and talk and laugh loudly if the urge arises.

The children and the adults enter a homely environment: in a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom, all created by the designers Sir Grand Lear. Yet something is different. There are words on the table, things are turned upside down in the kitchen and there is free rein to be naughty on the toilet. The visit is rounded off in the museum’s cozy little cinema, where you can watch clips from three generations of children’s TV together.

In the exhibition, you will also be able to experience some of Ib Spang Olsen’s original drawings from the classic “Halfdans ABC”. Anders Morgenthaler’s drawings from the books about “Røv”, as well as Julie Kyhl’s whimsical illustrations from the book “De artigste børn i verden” by Josefine Ottesen. And then STORM has the pleasure of being able to show some of Ole Lund Kierkegaard’s well-known drawings from his books “Gummi-Tarzan”, “Otto er et næsehorn” and “Orla Frøsnapper”. The drawings have not previously been exhibited, and neither has Onkel Reje’s pregnant belly from the latest season of the popular Ramasjang series. But now you get the chance to see this important prop from the episode about “Onkel Rejes fede sommerferie”.

Why is humor so important to us?
According to research in the field, children think it is important that their friends have a sense of humor. That is why STORM sees the exhibition Men hvad må vi så? as a case study in what humor is for children and adults, and as a presentation for a talk about why humor plays such an important role in our way of being together – and being part of communities.