Organisers of Understanding through Humour set out to offer the Czech public something special by using humour and cartoons to acquaint the audience with the experience, views and perspectives of Arab artists and their reflection of the events and developments in their home countries and regions, underline commonalities and values and social needs. Unlike complicated information in serious media, humour in cartoons is easily accessible and can raise wide awareness and understanding.

Understanding through Humour consisted of, among others, exhibitions presenting artworks of several leading Arab cartoonists and political activists such as Abdelraheem Yassir from Iraq, Nadia Khiari from Tunisia and Khaled Albaih from Sudan – in an exhibition in two Czech cities: Prague and Olomouc. The exhibition was followed by a documentary film screening, public debates and master-classes for young artists.

The Prague exhibition took place in DOX: Centre for Contemporary Art, a leading Prague art institution. The exhibition was opened on the 16th November 2016, lasted for over 3 months, and was visited by approximately 20.000 people. The Olomouc exhibition was opened in Gallery W7, part of an innovative cultural institution – the Na Cucky.

A programme accompanying the exhibition took place in both cities and offered a screening of a French documentary film Cartoonists: Foot Soldiers of Democracy followed by public debate and a master-class for young artists attended by almost 20 artists.

In relation to the visibility of the action, the public service TV reported on the events in the main news edition. As did the leading Czech online news media with a daily readership of over 1 million people (1/10 of the Czech total population). The event was also covered by a number of smaller media outlets in both Czechia and Slovakia.