For millennia, the stories of all human societies have been populated by strange creatures, wonderful animals and other nightmarish beasts. From the end of the Middle Ages, tens of thousands of different beings were listed by the theologians of the time. Then the 20th century saw the emergence of a new field of research: cryptozoology, which aims to study animal forms whose existence has not been formally proven.
It is precisely in the cabinet of curiosities of a family of cryptozoologists that this exhibition begins. Four sections are then linked in a logical way as in a fabulous adventure. After presenting the origins and history of these creatures in the arts, the journey takes us to the heart of Fantasy, Science-Fiction and Steampunk - or retrofuturism -, three kinds of comics that are conducive to wonderful encounters.
These sections are punctuated with works, objects of art and iconography (paintings, sculptures, engravings, photographs, drawings, earthenware, laces) including the fantastic bestiary continuous dialogue with comic-strip creatures.
At the end of the tour, the exhibition reveals its last secrets in order to discover the link forged by the city of Calais with extraordinary animals and the arcana of comic book creation.
The exhibition Créatures, bestiaires fantastique de la bande dessinée was designed and organized in partnership with the association On a Marché sur La Bulle.