Murals
photo: Richard Harris
This time for my bike ride I went up to La(e)ken to shoot the comic book murals up in that northern part of the city. La(e)ken is home to the Royal Domain, the Japanese Tower, the Chinese Pavilion, the Atomium, the Model City, poor neighborhoods, rich neighborhoods, and beautiful parks. In the course of tracking down five of the murals up there I discovered two hidden neighborhoods. On the way, I stopped in Canal Street near my apartment and took a picture of this mural.
All the text I'm using to describe each mural is the official text from the city's website so any awkward English is not due to me.
"Dear foreigners, please refrain from laughing: in Flanders, the most popular football club is not Bruges, Anderlecht, FC Barcelona or the national team, but a bunch of amateurs that rarely manage to win a match. The explanation? The worse FC De Kampioenen (in English, The Champions FC) play, the more people laugh. FC De Kampioenen is not a real club, but the name of a hugely popular television series that ran from 1990 to 2011. Even repeats of repeats have families gathering around the TV. Since 1997, FC De Kampioenen have also existed in comic strip form. The humorous series was a big success, right from the first album "Zal 't gaan, ja?" (Enough already). The comic books are drawn by Hec Leemans, a seasoned artist who made his name with the historical comic strip series Bakelandt. On the mural, you will recognise the main characters. The wildly gesticulating man with the yellow jacket and moustache is Balthasar Boma, the boastful chairman/sausage manufacturer/womaniser. Fernand Costermans, far left, calls himself an antiques dealer but in actual fact he is a bit of a swindler. The lady with the short skirt (top centre) is, Carmen: an extrovert gossipmonger often behind the crazy misunderstandings that pervade every episode. Perhaps the funniest of the bunch is the young father with the baby: the hopelessly naive and clumsy Marc Vertongen."
This time for my bike ride I went up to La(e)ken to shoot the comic book murals up in that northern part of the city. La(e)ken is home to the Royal Domain, the Japanese Tower, the Chinese Pavilion, the Atomium, the Model City, poor neighborhoods, rich neighborhoods, and beautiful parks. In the course of tracking down five of the murals up there I discovered two hidden neighborhoods. On the way, I stopped in Canal Street near my apartment and took a picture of this mural.
All the text I'm using to describe each mural is the official text from the city's website so any awkward English is not due to me.
"Dear foreigners, please refrain from laughing: in Flanders, the most popular football club is not Bruges, Anderlecht, FC Barcelona or the national team, but a bunch of amateurs that rarely manage to win a match. The explanation? The worse FC De Kampioenen (in English, The Champions FC) play, the more people laugh. FC De Kampioenen is not a real club, but the name of a hugely popular television series that ran from 1990 to 2011. Even repeats of repeats have families gathering around the TV. Since 1997, FC De Kampioenen have also existed in comic strip form. The humorous series was a big success, right from the first album "Zal 't gaan, ja?" (Enough already). The comic books are drawn by Hec Leemans, a seasoned artist who made his name with the historical comic strip series Bakelandt. On the mural, you will recognise the main characters. The wildly gesticulating man with the yellow jacket and moustache is Balthasar Boma, the boastful chairman/sausage manufacturer/womaniser. Fernand Costermans, far left, calls himself an antiques dealer but in actual fact he is a bit of a swindler. The lady with the short skirt (top centre) is, Carmen: an extrovert gossipmonger often behind the crazy misunderstandings that pervade every episode. Perhaps the funniest of the bunch is the young father with the baby: the hopelessly naive and clumsy Marc Vertongen."
photo: Richard Harris
"Is it not heroic to take the dog for a walk so happily and carefree through the city? The dog is named Timmy; the girl is called Debbie. Well actually, in Bruges she is called Tiny. In Tournai people know her as Martine, in Tirana as Zana, in Madrid as Martita, in Cagliari as Cristina, in Skopje as Mapuka, in Ankara as Aysegül, in Maribor as Marinka and in Malmö as Mimmi. More than 85 million albums have been sold in thirty countries. Debbie is proof that even a squeaky-clean girl can be a real world star. Each album is dedicated to a new hobby or activity for the improbably sweet, helpful and talented child. The series started with a trip to the farm. The sea, the circus, the mountains and the park would follow. In 1964 she went shopping. In 1968 she played mother, in 1975, she learned to swim, she found a cat in 1994, and in 2009, she discovered nature. In everything she does, she is eerily good. Walloon artist Marcel Marlier (1930-2011) was himself a perfectionist. The character of the ideal daughter remained unchanged from her first appearance in 1954. However, her look constantly evolved. Marlier faithfully followed the prevailing fashion trends. The series is particularly popular with girls in primary school. Nobody can criticise the beauty and harmony of the idyllic drawings. Marlier swears by a naive realism with sophisticated lighting, endearing pastel colours and backgrounds that are developed in detail."
"Is it not heroic to take the dog for a walk so happily and carefree through the city? The dog is named Timmy; the girl is called Debbie. Well actually, in Bruges she is called Tiny. In Tournai people know her as Martine, in Tirana as Zana, in Madrid as Martita, in Cagliari as Cristina, in Skopje as Mapuka, in Ankara as Aysegül, in Maribor as Marinka and in Malmö as Mimmi. More than 85 million albums have been sold in thirty countries. Debbie is proof that even a squeaky-clean girl can be a real world star. Each album is dedicated to a new hobby or activity for the improbably sweet, helpful and talented child. The series started with a trip to the farm. The sea, the circus, the mountains and the park would follow. In 1964 she went shopping. In 1968 she played mother, in 1975, she learned to swim, she found a cat in 1994, and in 2009, she discovered nature. In everything she does, she is eerily good. Walloon artist Marcel Marlier (1930-2011) was himself a perfectionist. The character of the ideal daughter remained unchanged from her first appearance in 1954. However, her look constantly evolved. Marlier faithfully followed the prevailing fashion trends. The series is particularly popular with girls in primary school. Nobody can criticise the beauty and harmony of the idyllic drawings. Marlier swears by a naive realism with sophisticated lighting, endearing pastel colours and backgrounds that are developed in detail."
photo: Richard Harris
"Look at the names above the intact cages: King Kong and the Minotaur will remain locked up in the imaginary zoo in the shadow of the Atomium for some time yet. The enthusiastic boy who loves Batman and flared trousers chose to free the Yeti. The animal looks more like a hairy, oversized gorilla but it is the Yeti. Exhibit one: the bars of the Yeti's cage have been repaired. Exhibit two: Tintin in Tibet. In this world famous and quite emotional album, Tintin cannot believe that his friend Chang (The Blue Lotus) has not survived a plane crash in the Himalayas and starts a search. Chang is indeed still alive: he has been rescued by a lonely female, cuddly teddy bear that is condemned to go through life as the abominable snowman. Compare the physique and character traits of Hergé's yeti with Mezzo's yeti and you will conclude that this is a tribute. Mezzo is the pseudonym of Frenchman Pascal Messenburg. Together with writer Michel Pirus, in the King of the Flies albums he devised a universe far stranger and darker than the mural in rue Stiernet suggests. Hergé may be an influence, but so is the American underground culture. With sardonic pleasure, in a number of stylishly drawn and very depressing short stories they tell of the madness and frustrations of young people who are bored to death in a middle-class environment. The King of the Flies is ideal for fans of David Lynch, Robert Crumb or Charles Burns."
"Look at the names above the intact cages: King Kong and the Minotaur will remain locked up in the imaginary zoo in the shadow of the Atomium for some time yet. The enthusiastic boy who loves Batman and flared trousers chose to free the Yeti. The animal looks more like a hairy, oversized gorilla but it is the Yeti. Exhibit one: the bars of the Yeti's cage have been repaired. Exhibit two: Tintin in Tibet. In this world famous and quite emotional album, Tintin cannot believe that his friend Chang (The Blue Lotus) has not survived a plane crash in the Himalayas and starts a search. Chang is indeed still alive: he has been rescued by a lonely female, cuddly teddy bear that is condemned to go through life as the abominable snowman. Compare the physique and character traits of Hergé's yeti with Mezzo's yeti and you will conclude that this is a tribute. Mezzo is the pseudonym of Frenchman Pascal Messenburg. Together with writer Michel Pirus, in the King of the Flies albums he devised a universe far stranger and darker than the mural in rue Stiernet suggests. Hergé may be an influence, but so is the American underground culture. With sardonic pleasure, in a number of stylishly drawn and very depressing short stories they tell of the madness and frustrations of young people who are bored to death in a middle-class environment. The King of the Flies is ideal for fans of David Lynch, Robert Crumb or Charles Burns."
photo: Richard Harris
Just two houses down from the previous house in this hidden neighborhood is this completely different house with a ceramic tile façade.
Just two houses down from the previous house in this hidden neighborhood is this completely different house with a ceramic tile façade.
photo: Richard Harris
"Blueberry, Lucky Luke, Comanche, Buddy Longway, Jerry Spring...: the list of (Belgian) great western comic books is a long one. The Jauvray family was - quite rightly - not put off by this, and came up with a new western in 2002: Lincoln. Olivier Jouvray invents the scenarios, brother Jerome handles the drawings and Jérome's wife Anne-Claire does the colouring. As you can see on the mural in rue des Palais, things are pretty rough in their comic. Lincoln is the young man with the hat who is ready to box with the giant who is rolling up his sleeves. It is not the first time this grouchy, lonesome cowboy lets his fists do the talking or gets into a fight. Lincoln is a born brawler and a notorious grumbler who is bone-idle. But God is relying on this specimen of the human species to restore some order, superhero-style, at the start of the twentieth century. God has bet Lincoln that one day he will finally find happiness. Just to make sure, he has made the cynical cowboy immortal. If there is a fight, God prefers to remain aloof. On the mural, he is looking on from the first floor, surrounded by angels with harps. Two doors down, his eternal adversary the devil is seen sporting a grin. The original concept was developed in a series of exciting adventures, topped with pithy humour. Lincoln is able to put his mostly pessimistic view of the world into words with sharp wit."
"Blueberry, Lucky Luke, Comanche, Buddy Longway, Jerry Spring...: the list of (Belgian) great western comic books is a long one. The Jauvray family was - quite rightly - not put off by this, and came up with a new western in 2002: Lincoln. Olivier Jouvray invents the scenarios, brother Jerome handles the drawings and Jérome's wife Anne-Claire does the colouring. As you can see on the mural in rue des Palais, things are pretty rough in their comic. Lincoln is the young man with the hat who is ready to box with the giant who is rolling up his sleeves. It is not the first time this grouchy, lonesome cowboy lets his fists do the talking or gets into a fight. Lincoln is a born brawler and a notorious grumbler who is bone-idle. But God is relying on this specimen of the human species to restore some order, superhero-style, at the start of the twentieth century. God has bet Lincoln that one day he will finally find happiness. Just to make sure, he has made the cynical cowboy immortal. If there is a fight, God prefers to remain aloof. On the mural, he is looking on from the first floor, surrounded by angels with harps. Two doors down, his eternal adversary the devil is seen sporting a grin. The original concept was developed in a series of exciting adventures, topped with pithy humour. Lincoln is able to put his mostly pessimistic view of the world into words with sharp wit."