The Consulate of Syldavia in Bangkok is honoured to announce the dispatch of a consular delegation to the 41st Annual Day of the Amis de Hergé (Friends of Hergé), to be held on 7 March 2026 at the Hôtel Van der Valk Nivelles-Sud, Belgium.
The Association des Amis de Hergé, long recognised as a devoted custodian of the author's graphic chronicles of Syldavian history, will this year pay tribute to the late Philippe Goddin — scholar, biographer, and former president of the association, who passed away on 8 September 2025 — and to Bob De Moor, one of Hergé's closest collaborators, on the centenary of his birth.
The gathering will also provide a valuable opportunity for the delegation to meet fellow members of the Syldavian consular network and honorary representatives expected to attend, with a view to strengthening the coordination of efforts to promote Syldavian heritage and culture abroad.
Programme
The programme for the day reflects the full breadth of the association's mission. From 8:00 to 13:00, attendees will have access to the largest collectors' exchange devoted exclusively to Hergé — a longstanding fixture of considerable interest to the delegation, which has been issued a strictly limited acquisitions budget for the occasion.
This year's exhibition will present a curated selection of Tintin enamel plaques from the Émaillerie Belge, together with everyday objects of our heroes as depicted in Hergé's graphic chronicles, presented by Albert Lemaire.
Two scholarly presentations are scheduled for the morning: at 10:00, Jean-Pierre Levée will speak on the subject of Hergé and copyright (Hergé et les droits d'auteur); at 11:00, Guillaume Lavie and Philippe Fontaine will present Quick et Flupke : la totale, featuring four previously unpublished gags by Hergé.
The afternoon general assembly, from 14:00, will welcome distinguished guests including Olivier Schwartz, Gilles Ratier and Thierry Groensteen, and will feature a special tribute to Philippe Goddin. Proceedings will conclude with the traditional quiz by Claudy Lempereur. Signing sessions with attending authors begin at 17:30, followed by the customary closing dinner.
The delegation notes with particular interest the confirmed attendance of Jean-Pierre Talbot — who portrayed Tintin in the cinematic adaptations of 1961 and 1964 — alongside Thierry Wermuth and Christian Pélissier, the French voices of Tintin and Captain Haddock in the animated series.
Meanwhile, the Royal Cinematheque in Klow is marking the 43rd anniversary of Hergé's death with a four-film Tintin retrospective the same weekend.
Clarification
The Consulate wishes to address, once again, recurring speculation that missions of this nature constitute leisure trips to Europe financed from consular funds.
Similar insinuations surfaced following the Consul's protocol visit to the Hergé Museum in August 2025, and proved entirely without foundation. The delegation's attendance at the Journée des Amis de Hergé serves a clear diplomatic and cultural mandate, and the proximity of Nivelles to Brussels — with its well-documented chocolatiers and brasseries — is entirely coincidental.
Similarly, the increasing frequency of mercantile notices published on this website is wholly unrelated to the recent acquisition of pricey Tintin collectibles, now exhibited at the Consulate.
