COMIC STRIP TOUR

Brussels has a long tradition of murals. For the 2009 comic strips theme, the City of Brussels will again add to its comic strip tour, with two or three murals.

One of these murals will be devoted to Rabaté for the album ‘Les petits ruisseaux’ (small streams), which won the latest City of Brussels prize. This prize is awarded annually to an author and an original work that opens up new perspectives for comic strips (in terms of graphics, stories or story-telling technique). Artists from abroad are also invited to Brussels for this, to participate in the city’s beautification and to make it more attractive.

The City of Brussels started producing its own comic strip murals in 1993. They have been included in a tour that stretches across the city. Now very popular with tourists, the tour includes 31 walls in the central Pentagon area and four walls in Laeken. People following it can therefore take a nice stroll and discover Brussels in a different manner. This tour is today an integral part of the city’s heritage. It is something we would like to spotlight during the comic strips theme year, by ensuring the murals are known and recognised by everyone and by turning them into some of the most popular tourist attractions of our capital – the home of comic strips! Besides the murals, some streets in Brussels will be given two plaques, one of which is fictional. This will be an amusing reference to Belgian comic strips.

These ‘comic strip’ streets make up a second comic strip tour across the city, as the guiding thread for a nice walk.