Let’s go back in time to the summer of 2021.
Spa has just been recognised on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as one of Europe’s great spa towns!

© Hergé / Tintinimaginatio – 2024

This label, so long hoped for by Spadois and Spadoises for over 12 years, is now a reality.
Indeed, meticulous work has been orchestrated not only by the various municipal departments, but also by a management committee made up of a large number of local associations, including our Cultural Centre.
Our town has thus rediscovered the foundations of its identity, linked to the quality of its springs, its rich architectural heritage and its exceptional environment.
Together with the people of Spad, it is writing a new chapter in its history, inviting them to continue building its cultural, social and economic development.
This recognition is also important for the Cultural Center, which since 2016 has brought together the communes of Spa, Jalhay and Stoumont to form a vast cultural territory.
Our institution is well known for its multifaceted cultural activities.
It also pays particular attention to raising awareness among residents of the various tangible and intangible forms of our territory’s heritage, so that they can make it their own.
The aim of the Cultural Center is to instill in everyone a sense of pride, a strong local cultural identity, but always in a spirit of encounters, sharing and openness to others.
At the dawn of this new stage, couldn’t we have imagined a cultural activity that would unite the public?
A project that would appeal to locals and tourists alike?
An intergenerational exhibition, showcased in the heart of our region, in the spa town, in the emblematic Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand building?
It seemed obvious to us to choose an artist of whom we are all proud.
A Belgian artist who unites us, the Belgians, an artist who already offers us all something in common, that magnificent red and white rocket which decorates our passport.
This is how an exhibition on Hergé and his favorite character Tintin, presented in 4 languages (French, Dutch, German and English), became our Objectif Lune!
Since the summer of 2021, over the months, this project has come to fruition. Tintin’s Imaginary Museum has been created in 3 dimensions in the heart of our water city.
By organizing this exhibition with the Musée Hergé, Tintinimaginatio and the City of Spa, the Cultural Center wishes to reinforce its mission of democratizing culture by promoting an activity aimed at a broad, intergenerational audience. In a quest for social diversity, it will promote access for all, and understanding of the work of this Belgian cartoonist and illustrator, Hergé, one of the most famous artists of the 20th century.
The Cultural Center will also be supporting the younger generation with guided tours of the exhibition, accompanied by reading workshops.
Our national hero with the puffball will remain timeless!
For the Centre culturel, Alexandra PHILIPPE, Director

A natural meeting: Spa and Tintin!
A timeless link: Spa and Tintin… An exclusive: Tintin’s Imaginary Museum at Spa!

It’s with great pleasure and a certain pride that the City of Spa welcomes a real exhibition of the imaginary Museum of Tintin, designed by Hergé.
A familiar poster from 45 years ago becomes reality!
The “clear line” for this exhibition had been drawn!
Tintinimaginatio and the Hergé Museum were inspired to work with the City of Spa and the Spa-Stoumont-Jalhay Cultural Centre to organise this exceptional exhibition.
Hosting this world premiere required an exceptional venue.
The Pouhon Pierre Le Grand was the obvious choice, not only for its size and architectural features, but also for its location in the heart of the Eurogio Meuse Rhin, a stone’s throw from the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack, on the edge of the Fagnes and at the centre of a green cirque surrounding Spa.
Spa and Tintin is the ideal setting for Tintinimaginatio and the Musée Hergé.
In the exhibition, we find this natural setting before entering the imaginary museum… A dialogue between the garden of Marlinspike Hall and the nature of Spa.
Spa and culture have always been close friends.
Spa wants culture to be accessible to all, a culture that can be experienced and shared simply with family and friends, for a weekend or a stroll.
Tintin unites all generations, and so it was with great enthusiasm that the Centre Culturel and the Collège joined forces with Tintinimaginatio and the Hergé Museum to bring this unique project to fruition.
For Madame la Bourgmestre, Sophie Delettre “The exhibition Tintin’s Imaginary Museum exhibition in Spa marks an important step in our drive to bring Spa’s heritage to life through international exhibitions, and to bring audiences together around an emblematic Belgian character.
As the saying goes, Tintin and Spa can be enjoyed by people aged 7 to 77.
“Combining culture and nature, cultural and architectural heritage, history and modernity – these combinations have always seemed to me to be the best way of providing access to culture for everyone. It’s a real source of pride to have played a part in making this possible today in Spa through this exhibition,” declares Alda Greoli, in charge of Culture at the city college.
The exhibition was made possible thanks to the support of the Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles and the Loterie Nationale.
On behalf of the Collège communal, Sophie DELETTRE, Mayor and Alda GREOLI, Member of the Collège in charge of Culture.

© Hergé / Tintinimaginatio – 2024

The exhibition

Hergé, whose real name was Georges Remi, was born on May 22nd, 1907 in Etterbeek, Belgium.
Considered to be the creator of the modern comic strip in Europe, he created a style all his own: the famous clear line. The Adventures of Tintin was first published on January 10th, 1929 in Le Petit Vingtième, the weekly youth supplement of the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle.
Hergé’s life merged with his work.
His omnipresent creation inhabited him and played an intimate part in the events that have made up the fabric of an existence entirely devoted to comic strip art.
The result was a substantial output, and even though he was attracted to other artistic disciplines, Hergé never abandoned the ninth art.
From Georges Remi as a press illustrator to Hergé as an art lover, via the birth of Tintin, the exhibition invites visitors to follow the path of this all-round artist.
There’s a big surprise at the end of the tour: Tintin’s imaginary museum!
In 1979, Michel Baudson conceived the first major exhibition devoted to Hergé’s work at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (now Bozar) in Brussels.
The exhibition was entitled Le Musée imaginaire de Tintin, and Hergé designed the poster.
She confronts Hergé’s work with her documentary sources, including many of the art objects that the artist observed in museums.
Between dream and reality, the town of Spa invites visitors to step inside the poster and discover in 3D these now mythical objects that bring the Adventures of Tintin to life.