Beloved ‘Tintin’ Features in Temporary Photo Exhibition at NMEC

Celebrating the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, the National Museum of Egyptian civilization (NMEC) launched a month-long photographic exhibition of Hergé’s famed Tintin adventures in Egypt.

It focuses particularly on the Belgian reporter’s adventures, alongside his white terrier Snowy, inspired by the fourth volume “Cigars of the Pharaoh” (1934). The volume narrates a travel to Egypt in which Tintin uncovers a pharaoh’s tomb replete with boxes of cigars and deceased Egyptologists, both of which lead them to uncover a mysterious drug smuggling enterprise worldwide.

Hergé, whose real name is Georges Remi, was heavily inspired by the discovery of the tomb of the boy king in 1922.

Initially published in black and white in the Le Petit Vingtième (“The Little Twentieth”), a children’s supplement of its more mature counterpart, the conservative Belgian newspaper, the Cigars went on to be republished by Brussels-based publishing company Casterman.

The exhibition is running from 22 November to 22 December, and is organized by a consortium of parties, namely the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Tintinimaginatio, the International Foundation for Fine and Decorative Arts, the Griffith Institute, and the Belgian embassy in Cairo.

According to the official website of Tintin, visitors can participate in the “Tintin Adventure Trail”, an interactive QR-based quest to rediscover ten masterpiece objectives in the permanent collection of the museum, which Tintin encountered in the comic book.

The discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun gripped worldwide imagination: it sparked a wave of interest in ancient Egyptian history and culture dubbed Egyptomania, particularly during the 20th century.