Everyone knows Asterix, Tintin, Spirou or Paul, the favorite character of Quebec comic player Michel Rabagliati, but do we really know the comic?
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This “popular but unknown” art now has its address, in Quebec, where we can learn more about its history, manufacture and main Quebec creators.
A section is also devoted to our most important caricaturists.
Installed in the Historical Interpretation Center of Sainte-Foy, on Chemin Sainte-Foy, the BD house, which opens its doors to the public on Saturday (May 3), is the first establishment exclusively devoted to comics in the country.
Part of the BD house explains how we make a comic strip thanks to objects loaned by hereists from here. Photo Cédric Bélanger
The first? Really?
“I cannot say that there was not some in the 1960s or 1970s because I would have had to do some research, but it is the first house dedicated to 9e Art in Canada, “says Thomas-Louis Côté, director of Quebec BD, the festival which inherited the mandate to manage the BD house.
“The sympathetic cousin”
The city of Quebec, we learn by browsing the three sections of the permanent exhibition of the BD house, is the cradle of comics in the province. In 1792, a bubble comic strip was published in order to encourage the population to vote in elections in Bas-Canada.
The first comic strip published in Quebec, in 1792. Photo Cédric Bélanger
Over the centuries, comics has taken up more and more space. However, despite its popularity, it remained a minor art in the eyes of the general public.
“The comic strip is a bit like the sympathetic cousin,” says Thomas-Louis on the side. Everyone has read comics, but it is rarely highlighted. With the house of comics, we arrive at a period when she has won her letters of nobility a little. ”
Funding of $ 170,000
The financing of the BD house is provided by Quebec City. It has lengthened $ 170,000 over two years, in addition to starting $ 50,000 aid to make a project that has been simultaneously on the Thomas-Louis for several years.
In addition to its permanent exhibition, the BD house will host temporary exhibitions. The first, on display until January, is devoted to science fiction comics.
The comic strip was the spine of several satirical magazines in Quebec during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Photo Cédric Bélanger
Quebec or foreign comics who are in passing will also be invited to lead workshops. We also want to hold books.
Thomas-Louis on the side believes that comics is popular enough to arouse the interest of tourists.
“We lived it with the BD pavilion at Espace 400e (in 2008). The tourists were really impressed by the exhibitions that were presented and the pieces that could be seen there. There is an audience for that. Lots of people from Montreal will come and see our exhibitions. We see it by the comments that we already receive. ”
