Cultural Compass: Celebrating a beloved Belgian comic and modern interpretations of classic art

​Every Sunday, Belga English picks its favourite events from the cultural agenda. This week: The adventures of Suske & Wiske turn 80 and unexpected encounters between the 16th and 21st centuries at The Mayer van den Bergh Museum

Suske & Wiske, until 11 January, M KHA, Antwerp

For 80 years, Suske & Wiske have fired the collective imagination. Generations grew up with their adventures, absorbing a rich visual world of humour, fantasy and emotion. Less familiar, however, is the extent to which Willy Vandersteen’s universe has echoed through the work of contemporary artists.

The INBOX presentation S & W &…, on view at M HKA in Antwerp, examines how Vandersteen’s visual and verbal language continues to function as a shared memory and a well of inspiration. Across some 300 albums, Vandersteen interwove Antwerp folklore, Flemish surrealism, Belgian politics, pop culture, global tensions, technological change and ecological concerns, creating an image bank that artists still consciously or subconsciously tap into.

The exhibition brings together work by Guy Van Bossche, Guillaume Bijl, Elen Braga, Fred Bervoets, Adrien Tirtiaux, Dennis Tyfus, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Walter Swennen and Willy Vandersteen. Pieces such as Walter Swennen’s Untitled (Sus Antigoon) (1985) demonstrate how comic figures can move from popular culture into a deeply personal painterly idiom.

30 years after De Warande’s 1995 anniversary exhibition, M HKA revisits this relationship, allowing iconic Suske & Wiske albums to resonate anew within contemporary visual art.

Urban Legends in the Mayer van den Bergh Museum, 6 December and 29 January, Antwerp

The Mayer van den Bergh Museum is bringing a vibrant wave of young talent into its orbit this winter. While the museum undergoes renovations, its temporary home in the Maagdenhuis sets the stage for Urban Legends, a new series created by young Antwerp performers that aims to make classical art resonate with a new generation.

Performers Eline Cote and Emma Hessels each selected a work from the museum’s collection as the starting point for their own programme, crafting events that speak directly to younger audiences who may not yet feel at home in traditional museum spaces.

On 6 December, double bassist and fantasy enthusiast Eline Cote takes over the museum with D&D @ the museum. Drawing inspiration from the horror elements embedded in historical art, she has invited philosopher and “horror professor” Dimitri Goossens for a lecture on the roots and cultural significance of horror. Throughout the evening, visitors can paint miniatures, learn to draw Mad Meg from Suske en Wiske, or try kitbashing, combining parts from different model kits to create new characters. The highlight is a Dungeons & Dragons night featuring campaigns based on works from the Fritz Mayer van den Bergh collection.

Cote found her spark in a painting featuring Saint Barbara: “Against her father’s wishes, Barbara clung to her faith. She paid for that choice with her life. I’m not religious myself, but there’s wisdom in that story. She stayed true to who she was. These days, social media tells you who you should be. I try to show people they don’t have to follow that. I do what feels right for me.”

Goossens’ lecture, also on 6 December, examines horror as a heartbeat of the human condition. Drawing on thinkers such as Bataille, Nietzsche, Kristeva and Foucault, he explores how death, monsters, the abject and disgust lurk beneath Western culture’s polished surface, revealing the unsettling yet illuminating insights horror can offer.

On 29 January 2026, the spotlight shifts to Emma Hessels with Oh Cecilia, You’re Breaking My Heart, a live performance of her debut EP in the intimate Maagdenhuis Chapel. Inspired by a small boxwood statue of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians, Hessels says: “When I learned her story, I knew she would be my favourite. It’s about faith and endurance. I’m not religious, but it reminds me to trust myself and what’s in my heart.”

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(MOH)

^{#FlandersNewsService | © PHOTO JORIS VAN GENNIP}

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