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In the Croatian capital, a curious museum offers a tour of the history of humor and seeks to make its visitors laugh so that they can “disinfect” the “negativity” of modern times.
The “hahahouse” or museum of laughter was inaugurated in January in the center of Zagreb and has aroused a living interest, attracting visitors of all ages.
Its founder, Andrea Golubic, explains that the idea arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people felt depressed, isolated or without wanting to do anything.
The inspiration came when she remembered a photo of herself, “in first primary, without all my teeth and dead of laughter, since it was a girl who constantly joked.”
At the museum's entrance, visitors begin the tour by clicking a button. The switch activates a white smoke that “disinfects of negativity.”
The visit continues through a “giant washing machine” that takes them through a slide to finish in a pool full of white balls. There begins the trip.
The Museum, 450 m2, offers eight interactive areas. In one of them, a karaoke distorts the voices. In another, the “Sumo Arena” can fight with stuffed costumes.
There is also a “cabinet” with different “suits” and a chickens of rubber chickens that happily cackle successes such as “Dancing Queen” of Abba.
– “Medicine for the soul” –
The exhibition includes a more serious part, where the visitor immerses himself in the history of humor.
The timeline covers the elderly and modern times and includes formats such as theater, cinema or the Internet. It also explains the different humorous styles, whether word games or black humor.
The “hahahouse” likes children because it is a colorful and cheerful museum. But it also attracts adults.
“All those who still feel a little childish joy and hug their inner child,” will come out with a renewed energy, promises Golubic.
The retiree Bruno Dadic, for example, is “delighted.” “There is never enough humor in life,” he tells AFP. “Laughter is a medicine for the soul,” he insists.
The Museum Coopera with schools and hopes to do it with residences of the elderly and the Zagreb psychiatric hospital, which expressed interest.
For Zorica Buric, a singer from the coastal city of Split, a “museum like this is a perfect idea especially today, when they bombard us with so many bad news.”
“Entering here is like returning to childhood, freeing all problems. If one was more time here, there would be no need to pay a psychologist, ”he says.
Experts agree that optimism and laughter are essential for people's emotional and physical health.
Laughter is a defense mechanism that gives people a kind of strength to face problems, declares the psychologist Petar Kraljevic, praising the idea of the museum, to the AFP.
“If you could prescribe a three -hour recipe of laughter every 24 hours, positive results would undoubtedly be obtained,” he emphasized.
LJV/FG/SAG/ZM
© Agite France-Presse
