The Belgian Comic Strip Center - Museum Brussels

To celebrate the special occasion of their 20^th anniversary, the publishing house Éditions Bries is taking its place in the Gallery! Thanks to Ria Schulpen’s energy and creativity, this publisher has been releasing high-quality comic books since 1999 and has been thrusting a whole generation of talented authors and illustrators into the limelight. In the hands of this publisher, a book becomes a powerful thing of beauty to be treasured, and exhibiting a style that is both original and inventive. The spellbinding story takes us on a journey into a universe that is always out of the ordinary. In order to celebrate this amazing event, the museum is introducing Maelstrom, the latest comic book released by Céline Hudréaux based on a short story by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. As is obvious from the original drawings on display, this female author has made the text her own to convey to us her very personal and poetic vision in her engravings. These are all reasons why the Museum of Comic Strip Art is so delighted to be celebrating the artist and her amazing publishing company!

Mélanie Andrieu, Belgian Centre of Comic Strip Art

Ria Schulpen initially established a comics library in Antwerp in 1985, and this later developed into a publishing house. Bries explores the infinite possibilities of visual storytelling and publishes books created by the finest international authors.

Céline Hudréaux (Marseille, 1979) studied at Villa Arson in Nice and Sint-Lucas Beeldende Kunst in Ghent, where she obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree. Since then, she has specialized in etching. She produced her first comic strip "It's not an ocean" in collaboration with the poet Geert Ooms, published by Bries in 2013.

The Moskstraumen or Maelstrom, the infamous system of eddies and whirlpools south of the Norwegian archipelago Lofoten, has inspired many a writer. ‘A Descent into the Maelström’ by Edgar Allan Poe is probably the most famous story of all. A seemingly elderly man tells the reader how just a few years before, he and his two brothers were swept along in their fishing boat right into the very heart of this vortex. He ended up being the sole survivor.

Céline Hudréaux has turned Edgar Allan Poe’s story into a poetic graphic novel. Her etchings depict the unfortunate experience of the three brothers set against the backdrop of a life of hard work in a fishing village. Maelstrom includes a great additional bonus at the back of the book; a Dutch translation of Edgar Allan Poe’s work by Simon Vestdijk.

Ria Schulpen, Éditions Bries

With the Support of the Brussels-Capital Region