Brussels tries to cool locals’ anger over ‘racist’ street murals – with QR codes

City authorities hope to soothe those who are deeply shocked' by the comic-strip trail of Belgium's rich history

In the centre of Brussels, close to the monumental Palais de Justice, is a brightly coloured cartoon painted down a strip of a scruffy four-storey building. Playing on the stories of crime and judgment unfolding in the nearby courtrooms, the mural shows heaven and hell. In the blue skies, a caricatured police officer flies over a topless woman sunbathing, while a white officer eyes a black man; down below, the red-tailed devil looks grumpy.

The work, from a popular cartoon that first appeared in the 1980s, is just one of 68 murals celebrating Belgium's rich history of comic strips, or bandes dessinees, including figures such as Tintin, Lucky Luke and the Smurfs.