Zandstraat 33-35
1000 Brussels
The successful Bright Yellow Cube project is complete and a structural collaboration will begin with the Comics Art Museum in July 2023, transforming the ‘Museum Marc Sleen’ into ‘Huis Marc Sleen’, ‘Maison Marc Sleen’, ‘Marc Sleen House’. During this transformation, a visit to the museum is not possible.
The Belgian cartoonist Marc Sleen (1922-2016) is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most prolific cartoonist in the world. His cartoon drawings consecutively cover an area of 34 football pitches, or the height of the Eiffel Tower 12 times.
His most important creation is his anti-hero Nero – an average Flemish guy-, who experienced no fewer than 217 adventures together with his colourful group of side characters. Nero was extremely popular, not only with children but also with adults. More than 30,000 readers followed Marc Sleen when he chose to work for another daily newspaper.
The post-war Belgian kings learned Dutch by reading the Nero cartoons. It was hardly surprising therefore when King Albert II himself inaugurated the Marc Sleen Museum and awarded Marc Sleen a knighthood.
Discover here how Nero will soon shine on Belgian travel passports.
The successful Bright Yellow Cube project is complete and a structural collaboration will begin with the Comics Art Museum in July 2023, transforming the ‘Museum Marc Sleen’ into ‘Huis Marc Sleen’, ‘Maison Marc Sleen’, ‘Marc Sleen House’.
The desk area will be restructured to provide studios for young people. In the summer, comic camps will be organised for children and, from September, the area will be transformed into a permanent studio for comic artists, a residence which will also welcome international authors. Selection will take place via an international call-out, and will further reinforce Brussels’ position as the capital city of comics.
‘De schat van Hoeilaart’ (literally ‘The treasure of Hoeilaart’), the former studio of Marc Sleen, will be preserved for the future in the museum’s cellar. It can be visited with a guide and during special events.
In 2022 it will be 100 years since Marc Sleen was born and 75 years since his most famous comic strip Nero first appeared. On the occasion of this anniversary the Marc Sleen Foundation confronts the postcolonial work of Marc Sleen with the self-conscious comics of nine black cartoonists from the African continent and from the diaspora living in Europe: Al’Mata – Barly Baruti – Didier Kassaï – Fifi Mukuna – Gilson Kitoko – Jeanpy Lupapa – Judith Kaluaji – Santa Kakese – Thembo Kash
Read more
The Knalgele Kubus Trofee (Bright Yellow Cube Trophy) is a competition for recent art college graduates, offering the opportunity to enter their final project to be in with a chance of winning a cash prize, a crystal cube and a paid residency at the Marc Sleen Museum.
A jury made up of comic book artist Kim Duchateau, scriptwriter Zidrou, Foundation chair Catharina Kochuyt and Knalgele Kubus co-ordinator Johan Stuyck selected five entries to make up the shortlist, including one winner of the 2021 Knalgele Kubus Trofee. Excerpts from their work have been included in the eponymous book and are available to be admired at the temporary exhibition held at the museum. The 2021 winner is Anneka Robeyns.
Read more
In countless stories – whether it is a movie, a novel or a comic strip – the city provides the background setting against which the action will take place. However, at times the city is more than just a static backdrop and it becomes almost human. The city centre is the throbbing heart. The streets and alleys are the cardiovascular system and the cars and trams are the blood that flows smoothly or becomes blocked causing a heart attack. The people are the blood cells and meet each other at random, resulting into unexpected adventures and conflicts but also ending in passionate affairs.
Some cities are immediately identifiable and therefore a basic premise for what could happen. In London, the fog will conceal a crime just in the nick of time, New York is hectic and sufficiently big enough to enable you to remain anonymous and to get lost or to find yourself again, while Paris is known for its promise of romance.
In the very heart of Brussels, take a guided walk along some world cities that are portrayed by twelve authors, each in their very own style. Cities for which they have great affinity and which they love dearly, perhaps one day more than another. They live in these cities or they are drawn to them time and time again. Their city is like a childhood sweetheart or a very demanding lover. It is either exotic and impenetrable or familiar and predictable. Or all of this rolled into one.
Read more
In 2018, Alec Severin made a retro version of Spirou & Fantasio (Robbedoes en Kwabbernoot) with four short stories in the style of the Grand Masters Jijé and André Franquin. Severin, who left school aged sixteen to become a comic illustrator, had already drawn praise with his comics Lisette and Harry. But 2018 was memorable for another reason too; from 17 November 2018 until the corona crisis in March 2020, Severin worked as a receptionist in the Marc Sleen Museum. And not just a receptionist, but an ‘artist in residence’ who could showcase his work ‘live’ to an audience. Severin took good care of Marc Sleen’s figures by applying his characteristic style to pay tribute to Sleen’s creation Nero. The result is a dazzling blend of drawings, sketches and interpretations, a selection of which can be seen in this exhibition, side-by-side with the work of Grand Master Sleen himself.
Read moreUpon the creation of the Marc Sleen Museum, the Marc Sleen Association was also founded. It manages the artistic heritage of Marc Sleen and the Marc Sleen Museum. It aims to maintain a focus on the creations of Marc Sleen among the public at large and open up his works for all to see. The Marc Sleen Association publishes texts and research, conserves and restores drawings, organises exhibitions, and manages the museum as a location where Sleen’s work is presented shoulder-to-shoulder with the work of the new generations of comic artists who follow in his footsteps.
In 1905, architect Richard Pringiers (1869-1937) designed the building on Zandstraat, Brussels, where the newspaper Le Peuple quickly took up residence. In 1931, the building was renovated by architects Fernand and Maxime Brunfaut. Marc Sleen drew at the Zandstraat offices from 1947 for the newspaper De Nieuwe Gids and several magazines. In 1989, the Belgian Comics Art Museum was opened at that location, on the other side of the street. In June 2009, on the initiative of the Brussels Region, the Marc Sleen Museum opened in the former building of Le Peuple.
