The Flemish comic Spike & Suzy (Suske & Wiske, Bob & Bobette) has captured the collective imagination for 80 years. Generations of readers and viewers grew up with their adventures and, through the albums, experienced a range of images, atmospheres, feelings, and expressions. Less well known is how strongly Willy Vandersteen‘s universe has continued to resonate with visual artists.
The INBOX presentation ‘S & W &…‘ explores how Vandersteen’s visual and verbal world functions as a collective memory and a source of inspiration for artists from different generations. The exhibition runs from 28 November 2025 to 11 January 2026 in the INBOX space at Antwerp‘s Museum of Contemporary Art, M HKA.
Vandersteen’s universe blends Antwerp folklore, Flemish surrealism, Belgian politics, local and international pop culture, global conflicts, new technology, ecological challenges, historical storytelling, and imaginative reenactments. The world of Spike & Suzy, as presented in some 300 albums, offers an inexhaustible image bank that artists consciously or unconsciously draw upon.
The presentation 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. A work like ‘Untitled (Sus Antigoon)‘ (1985) by Walter Swennen demonstrates how comic book characters can shift from popular culture to a personal, painterly vocabulary.
In 1995, the De Warande cultural center organized a group exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of Spike & Suzy, exploring the ambiguous relationship between these Flemish comic book heroes and contemporary Belgian art. Exactly thirty years later, M HKA is picking up the thread again with an exhibition in which iconic Suske & Wiske albums resonate with the work of visual artists.
The presentation is an initiative of comic book enthusiast and producer Lode Geens and art historian Johan Pas, in collaboration with Standaard Uitgeverij.
With the INBOX series, M HKA emphasizes its commitment to artistic innovation and experimentation. Discover all INBOX presentations at muhka.be/inbox.
Art and museums in Antwerp
- REVIEW | ‘La ligne de vie’ René Magritte exhibition at Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA).
- REVIEW | ‘Universal Tongue’, on dance, at Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) until 4 January 2026.
- 2028 to be Music Year in Antwerp.
- ANTWERP | MAS celebrates the universal language of dance with ‘Universal Tongue’, from 25 October 2025 to 4 January 2026.
- ANTWERP | Flemish government cancels €130 million new museum building for M HKA in Antwerp.
- MOMU | ‘GIRLS. On Boredom, Rebellion and Being In-Between’, 27 September 2025 to 1 February 2026.
- ANTWERP | Museum Plantin-Moretus highlights 300 years of women’s stories in ‘Women’s Business / Business Women’.
- Antwerp fashion museum MoMu will mark 40 years of The Antwerp Six with exhibition.
- ANTWERP | Museum Mayer van den Bergh opens exhibition ‘Public Favourites’, from Mad Meg to Delft Blue, look at art through other people’s eyes.
- ANTWERP | Museum Night 2025 on Saturday 2 August.
- ANTWERP | Middelheim Museum celebrates 75 years with a summer full of new ways to experience the art park.
- M HKA 2025 | Bruno Zhu – Panamarenko – ‘The Situation is Fluid’ – Today’s Place – Hugo Roelandt.
- ANTWERP | ‘These Branching Moments’ – ‘.tiff 2025′ – ”OM/MOTHER’: 3 new exhibitions at FOMU, from 28 June 2025.
- ANTWERP | ‘Compassion’ in the MAS: the many faces of compassion.
- 2025 at the museums of Antwerp.
- 2025 at Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (KMSKA): René Magritte, Marthe Donas, Panamarenko, Hans Op de Beeck.
- ANTWERP | Graphics Museum De Reede ft. Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch, Félicien Rops and Albrecht Dürer.
- ANTWERP | Rubens Experience and Rubens Garden at Rubenshuis.
- ANTWERP | Innovations in the Middelheim Museum provide a completely new visitor experience.
- A visit of the Flemish Tram and Bus Museum – Vlaams Tram- en Autobusmuseum (VlaTAM) in Antwerp.
- ANTWERP | Discovering queer(ed) art with the Queer Tour at the KMSKA fine arts museum.
- REVIEW | Illusion Antwerpen, an active and photogenic museum.
- Antwerp museums and sports facilities team up with European Disability Card for accessible leisure activities.
- Museum Mayer van den Bergh.
- ANTWERP | Inside Rubens House.
- Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp.
- ANTWERP | Museum Vleeshuis up for restoration.
- BOOK | ‘Antwerp. An Archaeological View on the Origin of the City’ by Tim Bellens.
- Red Star Line Museum.
- Paleis op de Meir.
- DIVA, Antwerp Home of Diamonds.
- ANTWERP | Red Star Line Museum of (e)migration.
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