"Tintin’s Imaginary Museum"... in Spa!

This label so much hoped for by the Spa inhabitants for over of 12 years is now a reality. Indeed, careful work has been orchestrated by the various municipal services but also by a management com- mittee made up of a large number of local associations, including our Cultural Center.

Our city thus finds back the foundations of its identity linked to the quality of its sources, of its rich architectural heritage and of its exceptional environment. It writes with the citizens a new chapter in its history, inviting them to continue building its cultural, social and economic development.

This recognition is also important for the cultural Center, which since 2016, has brought together the municipalities of Spa, Jalhay and Stoumont to form a vast cultural territory.

Our institution is well known for its cultural multiple action . It also pays particular attention to the raising awareness among residents about the different material and intangible forms of the heritage of our territory, so that they can make it their own. The challenge of the Cultural Center is to create in everyone a feeling of pride, a strong local cultural identity but always in a spirit of meetings, sharing and openness towards others.

At the dawn of this new stage, couldn’t we imagine a cultural activity that would unite audiences ? A project that would appeal to the inhabitants of our territory as much as to tourists ? An exhibition that would be intergenerational, highlighted at the heart of our region, in the spa town, within this iconic building which is the Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand?

It seemed obvious to us to choose an artist of whom we are all proud. A Belgian artist who unites us, we Belgian people, an artist who already offers to all of us something in common, this magnificent red and white rocket that decorates our passport. This is how an exhibition on Hergé and his favorite character Tintin presented in 4 languages (French, Dutch, German and English) has become our Moon Objective!

Since this summer of 2021, over the months, this project has come to fruition and Tintin’s Imaginary Museum was created in 3 dimensions at the heart of our spa town.

By organizing this exhibition with the Hergé Museum, Tintinimaginatio and the city of Spa, the cultural center wants to strengthen its mission of democratization of culture by promoting an activity intended for a broad and intergenerational audience.

In the interest of seeking social diversity, it will promote for everyone, access and understanding of the work of this belgian designer and illustrator, Hergé, one of the most famous artists of the 20th century.

The Cultural Center will also support young generations by offering them animated tours of the exhibition accompanied by reading workshops.

Our national hero with the puff will remain timeless!

It is with an immense pleasure and a certain pride that the City of Spa is hosting a very real exhibition of the Tintin’s Imaginary Museum, designed by Hergé. A poster known for 45 years has become true!

“The clear line” of this exhibition was drawn! The characteristics of a city of tourism, of history, of a city “where it happens always something” gave Tintinimaginatio and the Hergé museum the desire to organize with the City of Spa and the Cultural Center Spa-Stoumont-Jalhay this exceptional exhibition.

Hosting this world premiere required an exceptional venue. The Pouhon Pierre Le Grand naturally imposed itself as the perfect set- ting due to its size, its architectural characteristics but also its loca- tion in the heart of the “Rhine - Meuse Eurogio”, a stone’s throw from the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, on the banks of the Fagnes and in the center of a cirque of greenery which surrounds Spa.

Spa and Tintin, this is the setting that appeared ideal for Tintinimaginatio and the Hergé Museum. We find in the exhibition this natural scenery before entering the Imaginary Museum... A dialogue between the Moulinsart garden and the nature of Spa.

Spa and culture have always been a bond. Spa wants culture accessible to all, a culture that can be lived, simply shared with family, friends, for a weekend, during a walk. Tintin brings togeth- er all generations and it is therefore with enthusiasm that the Cultural Center and the college are invested itselves alongside Tintinimaginatio and the Hergé Museum to carry out this unique project.

For Madame la Bourgmestre, Sophie Delettre “The exhibition The Tintin’s Imaginary Museum in Spa marks an important milestone in our desire to bring the Spa heritage to life through international exhibitions and to bring together audiences around an emblem- atic belgian character. According to the dedicated formula, Tintin and Spa can be enjoyed from 7 to 77 years old.

“Combining culture and nature, cultural and architectural heritage, history and modernity, these combinations have always seemed to me the best way to provide access to culture for everyone. It’s a real pride to have participated in making this possible today in Spa through this exhibition” declares Alda Greoli, in charge of Culture at the city’s college.

This exhibition was made possible thanks to the support of the Wallonia Brussels Federation and the National Lottery.

Hergé, real name Georges Remi, was born on 22nd May 1907 in Etterbeek in Belgium. Considered as the father of modern comics, he creates a style that is his own: the famous clear line. Les Aventures de Tintin are first published on 10th January 1929 in Le Petit Vingtième, weekly supplement intended for youth of the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle.

Hergé’s life is intertwined with his work. His creation, omnipresent, inhabits him and participates intimately in the conduct of the events which constituted the framework of an existence entirely dedicated to comics. It results in a substantial production and even if he is attracted by other artistic disciplines, Hergé won’t never abandon the ninth art.

From Georges Remi press illustrator to Hergé art lover, including the birth of Tintin, the exhibition invites the visitor to follow the journey of this complete artist.

A big surprise awaits the curious at the end of the tour: Tintin’s imaginary museum !

It was in 1979 that Michel Baudson designed the first major exhibition dedicated to the work of Hergé at the Palais of Fine Arts (now renamed Bozar), in Brussels. It will be titled: Le Musée imaginaire de Tintin and Hergé will design it’s poster.

It then confronts Hergé’s work with its documentaries sources, including numerous art objects that the designer went to observe in museums.

Between dream and reality, the city of SPA invites the visitor to enter in the poster and to discover in 3D these objects now mythicals that bring us back to live Les Aventures de Tintin.