Brussels, Belgium - Part 3

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Parent Category: Travel Over There

Category: 2014 - Gap Year

Created: Thursday, 03 July 2014 00:44

There was another special event while we were in Brussels which was the opening of the Royal Greenhouses at Laeken. The greenhouses were built between 1874 and 1905 by Alphonse Balat under the orders of King Leopold II and has been managed by the Royal Trust since the King’s death in 1909. The ten greenhouses are connected by a series of galleries and halls, surrounded by beautifully manicured lawns and well maintained 19^th century buildings. The gardens are vast and architecturally wonderful, and open to the public for about six weeks in the spring each year. Each of the greenhouses are uniquely designed with specific environments and flora represented, along with statues and other objects d’art.

We visited the gardens on their final day and it was very busy. First you walk a tree lined avenue down and around the exterior of the greenhouses with views of the lawns and glimpses of the interior before arriving at the Palm Greenhouse. It is here that the flow of people bottlenecks and the crowds trickle through. The crowd bustles for a quick look and hastily taken photos before moving on to the next greenhouse. Those first few rooms are so thick with people it is impossible to pause a while and appreciate the beauty and grandeur. It is around the Geranium Gallery that it begins to thin and you are able to slow the pace, but still there are no opportunities to sit and reflect upon what you are seeing. A quick scroll through the images below will hopefully provide you with an idea of the beauty and wonder of this place.

The Royal Greenhouses are wonderful to visit and admire, and it is quite the shame that they are not open for more of the year to be enjoyed, and as such it is hard to appreciate the majesty of it as everyone is hurrying through in an effort to see everything which offers very little opportunity for admiration. I took a few minutes to sit at one point in the Winter Garden and was constantly interrupted by visitors wanting a quick photo before moving on.

Brussels is also the European capital of Comic Books, being home to such creations as the Smurfs and Tintin.  Brussels has the highest density of comic book professionals in the world, which is celebrated at Belgian Comic Book Centre, a museum dedicated to the art form as presented in Europe. There is also a Comic Art Walk which takes you to view the excellent murals scattered throughout the city, celebrating the art forms history in Belgium.

The Comic Centre has a permanent display beginning immediately behind the entrance that starts with a brief overview of the use of pictoral narration from ancient humans through to the 20^th century. This is followed by a detailed look at the creation of comics from inception through to publication. Writing, Pencilling, Inking and colouring, cover design, and final publication each have a display. The displays are made up of pages of roughs and thumbnails with author and artist annotations, pencilled and inked pages, displayed with the final published book allowing the visitor to get an idea of how much work goes in to the product they read. There are also several audio/visual displays with narration by the artist showing some of these processes. For people interested in comics but not widely versed in their creation this excellent display provides an easy introduction to the art. All of the art here is original and is displayed at the creators input. This introduction is followed up with a series of displays on genre, each with art appropriate from various European Artists and shows the great variety of styles produced. This area has displays in French, Flemish, and English.

There are also several other galleries to visit in the centre, one of which is truly excellent called “Canicule: Autopsy of a Graphic Novel by Vautrin Baru”. This special exhibit is made up of 2 metre tall open books featuring a reprint of a page from his graphic novel and a page detailing how it was produced by the creator in French, Flemish, and English. This is an excellent way to understand some of the thought processes that go into narrative and page design. There was a special gallery focused on Swiss creators, featuring a range of cover art and splash pages with a reading desk at the centre with graphic novels of the artists displayed for reading. Another gallery featured art produced specifically for the gallery as well as hundreds of historical comic pages and covers detailing the rich history of the comic book in Europe (unfortunately there was very little information here in English which diminished a little the joy of the display for me). In the historical display area there is a special section for Tintin and one of the best pieces on display was a character timeline showing the visual representation of each character as they appeared in each of the published books, highlighting the visual evolution of the characters ) I rather like the changes to General Alcazar who appeared in 4 books).

The Belgium Comic Strip Centre is an excellent museum and well worth a visit by anyone who has an interest in the field or wants to gain an appreciation for the art.

I have heard from numerous sources a question being asked of the traveller to Brussels, “Why would you want to go there? It’s Boring!” After spending a week here I struggle to understand why they would say this. Brussels has a rich history, beautiful architecture, there is a gastronomic adventure available if you go looking, and for appreciators and aficionados of beer an incredible array of flavours to try. For anyone that says Brussels is boring, I say they have never been and given the city a chance.

Other articles in Belgium:

Brussels, Belgium Part 1

Brussels, Belgium Part 2

Brussels, International Jazz Day