EUROPEAN DIARY:A centre dedicated to Hergé, who gave birth to Belgium's beloved character, is now open, writes JAMIE SMYTH
CAN YOU name 10 famous Belgians? Tell this old ex-pat joke at a dinner party in Brussels and you are guaranteed to howls of derision from locals, who often feel overshadowed by their more populous EU neighbours France, Germany and the Netherlands.
But if there is one famous name synonymous with Belgium it is Tintin, the intrepid comic book reporter who travelled the world solving mysteries and outwitting bad guys for much of the 20th century. Since making his debut in a comic strip in the Catholic newspaper Le Vingtième Sièclein 1929, Tintinhas become a publishing sensation, selling more than 230 million books worldwide. A new Hollywood movie based on Tintinand directed by Steven Spielberg is set to open in 2011, bringing the franchise to a new global audience of children, who may never have read a comic book.
So it is appropriate that on Tintin’s 80th anniversary, a new museum dedicated to his creator, Belgian artist Georges Remi, better-known by his pen name, Hergé, has opened in the Belgian town of Louvain-la-Neuve.
The brainchild of Remi’s widow, Fanny Rodwell, who has owned the copyright to Hergé’s work since his death in 1983, the museum is the product of 27 years of planning and cost €18 million to design, build and fit out.
“The museum is primarily about the work of Hergé, although Tintin obviously plays a very important role,” says Marcel Wilmet, a spokesman for Studios Hergé, who notes Tintin is a household name in continental Europe, China and Japan but not as well-known in the Anglo Saxon world.
Designed by French architect Christian de Portzamparc, the museum is built in the shape of a boat to evoke Tintin's exotic travels on yachts, junks and cargo steamers during his adventures. Inside the building, a clever use of natural light draws out the colours – they were chosen by Rodwell to reflect Hergé's drawings. But it's the eight darkened exhibition rooms stuffed with original artwork, photographs and Tintinmemorabilia that really bring Hergé's world to life.
The tour begins with a look at the Remi family photograph album, which displays some of Hergé’s influences for the character Tintin. Hergé borrowed some of Tintin’s gestures, character traits and his trademark quiff in his hair from his younger brother, Paul. The comic book hero’s sound morality and quest for adventure was influenced by Hergé’s own experience of the Boy Scout movement in Brussels.
Hergé joined Le Vingtième Siècleafter leaving school. He worked in the subscriptions department before his prowess at drawing was noticed and he was put in charge of a children's supplement, which serialised Tintin.
Given Hergé’s interest in world events and access to foreign newspaper clippings, it is no surprise Tintin’s adventures see him do battle with the Bolsheviks and travel to exotic locations such as China, Congo and the US.
In 1954, Tintin landed on the moon, a full 15 years before Neil Armstrong made that "giant leap" for mankind. For this dramatic two-part series, which was called Destination Moonand Explorers on the Moon, Hergé consulted scientists to make his drawings as realistic as possible. This realism mixed with Hergé's imaginative storyline and his mastery of the "clear line" drawing technique, where the artist draws lines with equal thickness and fills them in with uniform colour, are key to Tintin'ssuccess.
But it's the characterisation in Tintinthat has turned the comic book into a global phenomenon and the museum provides an insight into the inspiration behind some of the most popular cast members. Captain Haddock, Tintin's hard-drinking buddy with the trademark catchphrase "blistering barnacles", was inspired by Hergé's artistic colleague Edgar Pierre Jacobs while Professor Calculus, the eccentric scientist, was based on Belgian scientist Auguste Piccard who invented the bathyscaphe – a deep sea submarine.
Unsurprisingly for a museum set up by the Hergé foundation, only cursory attention is paid to allegations of racism, anti-Semitism and collaboration with the Nazis during the second World War that have been levelled at Hergé. Even today, controversies persist, with the New York Timesreporting last month that the 1931 book Tintin in Congohas been removed from public view at the Brooklyn library due to complaints at its "racist" depictions of Africans.
A 41-year-old Congolese accountant, Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, has also recently lodged court cases in Belgium and France against the Tintin book, claiming it is racist and discriminates against the Congolese community. The controversy is making Studio Hergé nervous ahead of the new Tintinmovie.
Hergé said in later interviews that he came up with the storyline “through the lens” of the colonial era and expressed his own regret about some of his drawings, which have been amended in later editions of his comic books.
Hergé’s admirers include the late American artist, Andy Warhol, who painted a trademark silk-screen portrait of Hergé, which hangs in the museum. Even former French president Charles de Gaulle was a Hergé fan, famously saying that “deep down, my only international rival is Tintin”.
The Hergé museum is well-worth the 30-minute drive out of Brussels. It is a fitting tribute to two of Belgium’s most famous sons, Hergé and Tintin.