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Madagascar: the zany and piquant humour of the Swiss Plonk and Replonk disconcerting and refreshing

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Laughter, questions and astonishment. Faced with the diverted images of the Swiss Plonk and Replonk and the hair-to-scratch boards of the Malagasy cartoonists, visitors do not remain indifferent to this atypical humor. © Sarah Tétaud/RFI

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3 min

The funny photomontages of the famous collective of Swiss artists "Plonk and Replonk" are invited to the Big Island... and come to titillate the sense of humor of the Malagasy. Full of self-mockery and second degree, the works transport the viewer into a crazy universe. For the occasion, local cartoonists were invited to portray these Swiss friends without concession. Culture clash and humor guaranteed!

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With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Sarah Tétaud

A wind of sweet madness blows at the town hall of Antananarivo... On the walls, images of the Belle Époque diverted and captioned to create a burst of laughter. Their creator, Hubert Froidevaux, alias "Bébert the image maker", made the trip to inaugurate the exhibition.

I'm curious to see the reactions. I think the second and third degrees are all over the world, from Inuit to Aborigines. Even the Swiss, it makes them laugh, so I don't see why the Malagasy people wouldn't make them laugh! " he says.

And to add a "Malagasy" touch, a dozen local artists agreed to create boards especially for the exhibition. On one condition: "make fun of the Swiss".

A rule of the game that immediately conquered Farahaingo, a cartoonist renowned for his raw humor, who chose to stage a Swiss hero a little confused.

« I took the character of Titeuf and I take him for a walk here in Madagascar. He is confronted with our ways of thinking, the Malagasy way of life, and he is very surprised ... Because here, we are known to be "moramora", to live slowly, without stress, because we are content with what we have... And there, behind him, I drew two prostitutes who try to flirt with Titeuf, humming the little nursery rhyme, "pssit, nice lark, come and get plucked!" and the other who says, "Clara, who is he?" and she replies "shut up and flirt, he's a funder. »

Children's illustrator Sese Dille chose to titillate culinary particularism: "I wanted to represent Swiss people who wanted to organize a lunch. So they were looking for cheese for Swiss fondue, they couldn't find it, they found bononoka (fermented cassava that smells very strong). So I wanted to represent the Swiss who thought it was Malagasy cheese, because it smelled strong.

Silver, Rolex, cows or chocolate... Swiss clichés are amplified. Faced with the sometimes wacky photomontages of Plonk and Replonk, this visitor smiles.

- There are things that I understand and that really make me laugh. There are things I don't understand.

- And when you don't understand, what happens?

- I ask my husband.

- Because he understands better?

- Maybe, and if he doesn't understand, we laugh together.

This other visitor loved the zany side and Swiss self-mockery, but expresses some doubts about the universal scope of this type of humor: "You have to know how to read through the lines to understand the messages hidden behind. Maybe it won't speak to everyone. I don't know if it's because of a lack of knowledge about Swiss culture or because we're not too second degree here... But me, in any case, I liked it, I found it very funny. And inspiring, too.

With this "Explosion of Laughter", Plonk and Replonk offer the Malagasy public a palette of refreshing witticisms for all tastes and sensibilities and perhaps opens a breach towards more self-mockery.

Madagascar: the zany and piquant humour of the Swiss Plonk and Replonk disconcerting and refreshing

Madagascar: the zany and piquant humour of the Swiss Plonk and Replonk disconcerting and refreshing

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