Culture

Hergé Museum cancels Charlie Hebdo exhibition

The Hergé-museum in Louvain-la-Neuve (Walloon Brabant) has cancelled an exhibition due to open today that was to have been a tribute to the makers of the French satirical magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’. The website of the Francophone daily ‘Le Soir’ reports that the decision to cancel was taken for security reasons.

The local authority in Louvain-la-Neuve was only informed about the exhibition on yesterday. The Mayor of Louvain-la-Neuve Jean-Luc Roland(Green) and representatives from the Local Police Service decided to take a look for themselves at what was going to be exhibited.

They then informed the head of Moulinsart (the Hergé Foundation) Nick Rodwell about the risks that such an exhibition would pose. Moulinsart was told that both staff at the museum and the population of Louvain-la-Neuve as a whole would be endangered if the exhibition were to go ahead.

Mayor Roland says that as an advocate of free speech he finds it regrettable that the exhibition is not going ahead. However, the Association of Walloon City and Municipal Authority had advised against the exhibition taking place in the current climate."
"Don’t want to pour oil onto troubled water"

Moulinsart’s Nick Rodwell says that he wasn’t aware of the gravity of the terror threat in Belgium and the fear that exists among the population.

"The Hergé Museum doesn’t want to fuel the fire. We will take a few days to reflect on what to do no wand whether or not it will be possible to find another solution that with ensure everyone’s security”, Mr Rodwell told Le Soir.
 

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