This Wednesday to Friday, 17 to 20 May, Louvain-la-Neuve will host an international colloquium for researchers and ‘Tintinophiles’. Its objective is to highlight the importance of Hergé’s work in 20th century artistic and cultural history, and to understand the universal character of The Adventures of Tintin and the work’s repercussions in the 21st century. The colloquium poster, which shows Tintin gazing at the moon, was created by Moulinsart. ‘The first human to walk on the moon’, Tintin himself, were he a real person, could never have imagined that he would become a genuine legend, the subject not only of devotion but of collections, exhibitions, conferences, research, hundreds of analyses, thousands of articles and homages of every kind.
The colloquium opens 17 May in the Hergé Museum atrium with an inaugural conference entitled ‘Quick et Flupke : une esthétique du gag dessiné’ (‘Quick and Flupke: aesthetics of the drawn gag’), led by Professor Philippe Marion of the Université catholique de Louvain. After the colloquium’s opening night and presentation, sessions on the notions of ‘territoires’ (‘lands’) and ‘temporalités’ (‘temporalities’) will take place on 18 and 19 May at UCL’s Collège Érasme.
A first session entitled ‘Territoires de l’imaginaire’ (‘Lands of the imagination’), which focuses on representations of the world in Hergé’s work, will be followed by a round-table on ‘Imaginaire des territoires’) (‘Imaginary lands’). A second session, ‘La Traversée du siècle’ (‘Over the course of the century’), will address the temporalities of Tintin. A third, ‘Le Temps des métamorphoses’ (‘The time of metamorphoses’), examines adaptations. The final UCL session, ‘Hergé, le fondateur’ (‘Hergé the founder’), will highlight Hergé’s founding role in the history of the ‘ninth art’.
Back in the Hergé Museum for the closing session, ‘Presse en stock’ (‘Press inventory’) will expand the scope to virtual lands beyond Hergé’s work, particularly in print media. The roundtable ‘L’héritage de Tintin’ (‘Tintin’s legacy’) will feature cartoonist Pierre Kroll, ‘Hergéologist’ Jacques Langlois, members of Les Amis de Hergé, and the scenarist and editor Yves Sente. Finally, KU Leuven Professor Jan Baetens and editor, writer, scenarist and critic Benoît Peeters will close the colloquium.
The colloquium in figures
- one academic and public event over four days, from 17 to 20 May, supported by 15 organisations;
- two venues: the Hergé Museum and the ‘salle du Conseil du Collège Érasme’ (FIAL/UCL);
- eight members of the Research Committee, representing six universities (three Belgian, one Swiss and two French);
- 20 contributors from eight countries; 19 meetings; three roundtables; two talks;
- one opening night, one closing session, nine special guests.
INFORMATION: https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/incal/cri/evenements/colloque-tintin.html
Details and registration: tintinlouvain2017@gmail.com