At the Saline Royale in Bourgogne, Hugo Pratt’s art meets the history of a place symbolising trade and travel: from 27 April to 9 November 2025, the exhibition ‘Corto Maltese, un monde en aventures’.

Three exhibition rooms explore Hugo Pratt’s creative universe, and among the original plates, watercolours and reproductions on display, the adventures of Corto Maltese are ideally intertwined with the history of the Saline, a crossroads where the routes of the sea meet those of the land.

EPCC Saline Royale
Grande rue, 25610 Arc et Senans
NEARBY TOWNS: Besançon (35km), Dole (30km)
TICKETS (the exhibition ticket includes a visit to the Saline Royale)
– 1 April to 31 October: adults €15,00
– 1 November to 9 November: adulti €13.00
November to March : 10am – 5pm
April, May, June, September and October : 9am – 6pm
July and August : 9am – 7pm

 

CORTO MALTESE AT THE SALINE ROYALE

In 1771, commissioned by Louis XV, Claude Nicolas Ledoux designed the Saline Royale, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to organise the production of white gold, a vital resource and symbol of trade and wealth (ironically, it was precisely the tax on salt that was to be one of the fuses of the French Revolution, which was to break out shortly afterwards).

Conceived as an ideal industrial community, where function and form complement each other, this place now welcomes another form of travel: that imagined by Hugo Pratt. The rational geometry of the Saline contrasts with the unpredictability of the routes of Corto Maltese, who crosses seas and continents without ever following a set path.

THE EXHIBITION ROUTE

The ‘Corto Maltese, un monde en aventures’ exhibition at the Saline Royal invites visitors to discover the world of Corto Maltese through a thematic itinerary in three exhibition rooms: the first is dedicated to Hugo Pratt’s biography and the genesis of the most famous pirate in the world of comics; the second celebrates the role of women in Corto’s adventures; the third leads to imaginary horizons, after a passage through the depths of Mu. And to conclude the view, Thierry Thomas’ biographical film “Trait pour trait”, inspired by the book that won the 2020 Goncourt Prize for biography.

The exhibition benefits from loans from the ethnological collections of the Musée des Confluences, as well as original plates, watercolours and drawings lent by private collectors.

Curators:
Patrizia Zanotti, CONG SA
Michel Pierre
Isabelle Sallé, Saline royale

A magnificent place then, for another reality and dream journey of drawn literature. On the other hand, it all started with a story entitled ‘A Ballad of the Salty Sea’.

Hubert Tassy, Directeur général Saline Royale 

En 2025, c’est un monde d’aventures, celles de Corto Maltese, le héros à la ligne de chance tracée d’un coup de rasoir, celui qui va de l’île du Moine au continent Mū, des déserts glacés de Sibérie aux pâturages helvétiques, accompagné du rythme lancinant des derviches tourneurs, ou du chant mystérieux d’une harpe celtique, de la vénéneuse Venexiana à la douce Pandora qui presque le tua. Chaque fois que l’on ouvre un album de Corto le temps se dilate et le vol silencieux des mouettes dans le ciel du pacifique, sous le regard de Corto, a un goût d’éternité.

Saline Royale is also Les Nuits de la Saline: in July and August the exhibition becomes immersive

Some of the artworks on display at the Saline Royal for the exhibition dedicated to Corto Maltese ‘Un monde ed aventures’