Darío Adanti Chistes contra Franco, Digi Mart USA News (Centro Cultural de España en México, Mexico City): Humor can also be an act of resistance, and it can become a way of challenging power when doing so puts one’s life at risk. On this premise, humorist, cartoonist and journalist Darío Adanti will present the artistic action “Chistes contra Franco” this Thursday, November 5, at the Centro Cultural de España en México.
The project recovers the clandestine humor used by anti-Franco victims of repression during the dictatorship to challenge Francisco Franco’s regime through irony, sarcasm and black humor. It traces jokes that circulated quietly, in private spaces and among people who shared opposition to authoritarianism.
Beyond being an exercise in wit, that humor constituted a form of cultural and political resistance in a context marked by persecution, censorship, torture and executions. Adanti presents the action as an effort to recover antifascist historical memory through an apparently simple form of expression: the joke.
“We wanted to rescue antifascist historical memory through the jokes that were told clandestinely,” the artist explains. The jokes are combined with excerpts from history books and historical documents that help explain the repressive context in which they were created and spread.
The intention, he says, is for the audience not only to understand the content of those jokes but also to grasp the circumstances in which they emerged. “We mixed them with fragments of history books about Francoist repression, so you understand the joke and see how difficult it was for victims of repression to make those jokes, because they were tortured and killed.”
In this way, “Chistes contra Franco” moves beyond the conventional humor show format, confronting the audience with a historical paradox: laughter as an expression of freedom in a setting where freedom was persecuted. For Adanti, there is no single way to make humor, nor a rigid boundary between irony, sarcasm and black humor.
The project includes registers ranging from the most innocent to the most corrosive, because each joke responds to a particular circumstance and way of confronting power.
His work at Mongolia, the satirical magazine he co-founded, has allowed him to explore that diversity of languages. Political satire, irony and provocative humor are part of his daily work, although he acknowledges that “Chistes contra Franco” carries an additional intention: to recover the historical and human value of a humor tradition linked to antifascist resistance.
The artist considers political humor to function as a shared code, a complicity that allows ideas to be communicated without always stating them explicitly. He sees that ability to suggest, question and expose the contradictions of power as one of irony’s great strengths.
In this sense, Adanti emphasizes the social and political dimension of humor, arguing that satire can help defend human rights, individual freedoms and democratic values against any authoritarian expression.
“I consider myself a satirical humorist, but also somewhat of a disseminator of the historical memory of humor as resistance for human rights or freedoms, against authoritarianism,” he states. His approach rests on a conviction: laughing at power is also a way of questioning it.
The presentation in Mexico carries, for Adanti, a particularly significant historical and emotional dimension. He describes a deep connection with Latin America and says each visit to the region reinforces his sense of belonging.
“I feel very Latino. Every time I come to Latin America I feel at home.
Honestly, I don’t feel European, although I do feel Spanish,” he says.
His identity is also closely tied to the memory of the Spanish Republic and the defeat of that political project after the Civil War. Adanti expresses affinity with republican ideals and sadness at the outcome of a democratic experience he considers especially valuable.
Presenting a project that recovers anti-Franco memory in a country that opened its doors to republican exile, he says, means far more to him than a cultural activity.
The humorist highlights Mexico’s historical role as a place of refuge for those who had to leave Spain after the Francoist victory. He recalls the country’s solidarity during the government of Lázaro Cárdenas, which received thousands of persecuted and exiled Spaniards when many international powers did not provide the support the Republic needed.
“It is very moving to be able to come and pay tribute to the Republicans in the land that gave them protection when the whole world left them behind,” he says.
Adanti notes that the Spanish Republic faced the advance of fascism while Hitler and Mussolini backed the Francoist side, whereas countries including the United States, United Kingdom and France did not offer the support the republican government needed. In contrast to that international abandonment, Mexico became a place of refuge and reconstruction for thousands of people who found an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
The legacy of that solidarity remains present in later generations, in families descended from exile and in the cultural ties linking both countries. “Mexico has always been a country open to political persecuted people from around the world.
That seems wonderful to me,” he emphasizes.
The memory of exile therefore runs through the meaning of “Chistes contra Franco,” turning its presentation at the Centro Cultural de España en México into a meeting between two traditions of resistance: those who fought Francoism through humor, and a country that made international solidarity a fundamental part of its relationship with republican exile.
Adanti’s connection to the Mexican humor scene also features prominently in his visit. The creator of Mongolia recognizes Mexico as one of the major international references in satire and political humor, a tradition with historical antecedents in figures such as José Guadalupe Posada and that remains vibrant in contemporary culture.
He expresses particular admiration for El Chamuco, an emblematic publication of Mexican political humor, which he considers one of the great references in satirical creativity and political criticism. Sharing experiences with Mexican artists and creators offers him a chance for dialogue between different ways of understanding humor, as well as an opportunity to recognize common ground between societies that have developed their own languages to question power.
“Mexico is one of the great references for satire and humor,” he says.
He also reports that a collage workshop he led during his visit to the Centro Cultural de España en México left him, in his own words, “extremely enthusiastic.” The activity centered on creating satirical collages, allowing participants to combine images, references and visual elements to build critical and humorous messages. “They made some amazing collages.
People got really involved and did really good things,” he recounts.
For the humorist, working in Mexico has a particular quality: humor does not need to be introduced artificially, because it is part of the way people relate to one another and express themselves. “Humor in Mexico is lived on the street, it is perspired, it is in every pore of Mexicans,” he says.
Adanti was born in Argentina and is based in Spain. His career has been shaped by illustration, graphic humor, political satire and social commentary.
As co-founder of Mongolia, he has helped develop one of the most recognizable satirical publishing projects in contemporary Spain. His visit also reveals a more personal side of his relationship with Latin America, and he reflects on Mexico City’s ability to attract people from many nationalities and make them part of its cultural fabric.
He cites Argentine illustrator Dr. Alderete, a member of Sonido Gallo Negro and an international illustration figure who has lived in Mexico for decades.
“It’s amazing how this city captures people,” he says.
“Chistes contra Franco” is scheduled for Thursday, November 5, at 8:00 p.m. at the Centro Cultural de España en México, located at Guatemala 18, Centro Histórico.
