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| European Comic Strip Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | European Comic Strip Center |
| Native name | Centre belge de la Bande dessinée |
| Established | 1989 |
| Location | Brussels, Belgium |
| Type | Art museum, Cultural institution |
| Director | Thierry Groenez |
European Comic Strip Center The European Comic Strip Center is a museum and cultural institution in Brussels dedicated to the art and history of the comic strip, graphic novel, and bande dessinée. Founded through collaborations among Belgian, Franco-Belgian, Dutch, and international partners, the Center documents the careers of leading creators and publishers while exhibiting original artwork, archival materials, and multimedia presentations. The Center situates itself within broader European cultural networks linking museums, festivals, foundations, and archives across Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and beyond.
The Center emerged from initiatives involving the Belgian Federal Government, the City of Brussels, the Centre for Fine Arts, the Comics Museum Foundation, and personalities such as Hergé, Peyo, André Franquin, and Morris who shaped Franco-Belgian traditions. Early backing included the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, the Flemish Community, the European Union cultural programs, the King Baudouin Foundation, and philanthropists linked to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and the Royal Library. Projects intertwined with events like the Angoulême International Comics Festival, the Salon du Livre de Paris, the International Manga Festival, and the Festival of European Comics in Lille, while research partnerships formed with the University of Liège, Ghent University, KU Leuven, Université libre de Bruxelles, and the University of Barcelona. Donors and collaborators ranged from publishers such as Casterman, Dupuis, Le Lombard, Dargaud, Glénat, and Panini to archives including the Belgian Comic Strip Center, the Hergé Foundation, and the Fondation pour la Bande Dessinée.
Housed in a restored 19th-century warehouse linked to the industrial heritage of Brussels, the building project involved architects inspired by Victor Horta, Henry van de Velde, and Art Nouveau precedents found in Maison Autrique, Hôtel Tassel, and the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert. Renovation teams included conservation specialists from the Institut du Patrimoine wallon, heritage officers from the European Heritage Days program, and contractors with experience on projects such as the Royal Museums of Fine Arts restoration, the Museum of Natural Sciences, and the Atomium refurbishment. The Center’s interior design draws on display strategies used by the Centre Pompidou, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Musée d'Orsay, the Museo del Prado, and the Rijksmuseum, incorporating climate control standards used by the Smithsonian Institution, the British Museum, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Collections focus on original comic art, pages, sketches, and manuscripts by creators including Hergé, Jean-Michel Charlier, Jijé, Edgar P. Jacobs, Morris, Franquin, Peyo, Gotlib, Moebius, Enki Bilal, Jacques Tardi, Hugo Pratt, Milo Manara, Will Eisner, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Art Spiegelman, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Robert Crumb, Rutu Modan, Marjane Satrapi, Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Claire Wendling, Marvano, Hermann, Vittorio Giardino, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Gipi. Thematic exhibits trace movements such as Franco-Belgian bande dessinée, American comic book tradition, British comics, European graphic novels, Italian fumetti, Spanish tebeos, Portuguese BD, Dutch strip, Scandinavian comics, Eastern European cartooning, Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and Argentine historietas. Temporary shows have featured archives from publishers like Spirou, Tintin, Asterix, Lucky Luke, Blueberry, Corto Maltese, Valérian, Blacksad, The Adventures of Tintin, Gaston Lagaffe, and showcases dedicated to creators such as René Goscinny, Philippe Druillet, Sergio Bonelli, Guido Crepax, Osamu Tezuka, Katsuhiro Otomo, Hayao Miyazaki, Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson, and Winsor McCay. Exhibitions also reference institutions like the Musée de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême, the Cartoonmuseum Basel, the Nederlands Stripmuseum, the Cartoon Art Museum, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, and the Center for Cartoon Studies.
Educational programming links to universities and schools including Sciences Po, ENSAD, École supérieure des Arts Saint-Luc, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, and the École Estienne. Workshops and masterclasses involve guest artists and scholars such as Thierry Smolderen, Benoît Peeters, Scott McCloud, Thierry Groensteen, Will Eisner Award laureates, Eisner jurors, Angoulême Prize winners, and BolognaRagazzi honorees. The Center hosts artist residencies partnered with cultural institutes like the Goethe-Institut, Instituto Cervantes, Institut français, British Council, Italian Cultural Institute, and Flemish Department of Culture, and coordinates events with the Brussels Comics Festival, Comic Con Brussels, the Small Press Expo, the Lucca Comics & Games, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Visitor services follow standards comparable to those at the Louvre, the British Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Centre Pompidou, offering guided tours, audio guides in multiple languages, tactile exhibits for visitors with impairments, and accessibility measures aligned with European Accessibility Act directives and UNESCO guidelines. The Center attracts tourists, researchers, collectors, families, students, and professionals from institutions such as the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the Benelux Office, and cultural attachés from embassies in Belgium.
Administration combines municipal oversight from the City of Brussels, governance by a board including representatives from the Belgian Comic Strip Centre Foundation, cultural agencies from Flanders and Wallonia, and partnerships with publishers like Dargaud, Dupuis, and Casterman. Funding streams include public grants from the Belgian Federal Government, regional cultural funds, European cultural grants, private sponsorships from companies similar to Proximus, BNP Paribas Fortis, and ING Belgium, philanthropic support from the King Baudouin Foundation and the Hergé Foundation, and revenue from ticketing, merchandising, licensing, and collaborations with institutions like the Royal Library of Belgium and the Royal Museums.
Category:Museums in Brussels Category:Comic museums