The Great Figures : Abbot Suys

Temporary exhibition :

From January 22 to November 22, 2026

 

To follow the 2026 theme of the Proscitec Museums network, the Museum team invites you to (re)discover the work of Abbot Suys, who brought the traditional Tournai puppets, Les Poriginelles, back to life in the 1940s and 1950s.

Through photographs and events, you will be able to see, listen to and read about Abbot Suys productions and projects at the Workers’ House of the Marguerite and George Parish

Link to theaudio of theexhibition here 

Workshop :

• From 4 to 8 may 2025         

With Bruno Delmotte – language teacher in Picard and Youth Center Mazure 14

As part of the “Great Figures” theme proposed by the Proscitec museum network, the Museum of Puppetry Arts is offering a workshop at Mazure 14 Youth Centre, located in the neighbourhood where Abbot Suys brought the Poriginelles back to life in the last century. The format of the short puppetry show in the Picard language will be decided together with the young participants, allowing them to make the language, the creative process and the history of their neighbourhood their own.

You can see the performance during Museum Night on 16 May 2026 and during the Saint Marguerite Festival on the first weekend of August. 

Readings of Texts in Picard

Thematic Exhibition Guide: Abbot Suys and the Poriginelles

Glossary :

Tournai :

Cabaret Wallon: Royale Compagnie du Cabaret Wallon, a literary and philanthropic society for men only, promoting the Picard language since 1907.

Moques: traditional Tournai pastries given out at First Communion celebrations.

Religion :

Priest : The priest is a man ordained by the catholic Church to order the mass.

Vicar or auxiliary : The vicar is a priest who assists the priest in a parish.

Priest : The priest is a priest in charge of a parish.

Abbot : Officially the Abbot is the superior of an abbey, but it is often used today to call a priest.

Parish : The parish is the territory entrusted to a parish priest. In rural areas, this sector is a village or a group of village and urban parishes are often broken down by neighborhood.

Picard :

Buquer: to hit

me mopèr’ / me mamèr’ : My father / my mother

nakin : yellow cotton fabric

Sorlets : shoes

R’wette : look

Brayeos : to cry

The Family of The Abbot Suys :

His father, Jean Baptiste Désiré Vincent Ghislain Suys, was born in Soignies on August 9 1865 and died on 29 September 1954 in Tournai. He was the leader of the choirmaster of Tournai Cathedral.

His mother, Marie Catherine Alphonsine Ghislaine Vlaminck was born in Tournai on December 21 1868 and died on march 19 1937 in Tournai.

They married on 11 April 1890 and had five children:

• Raphaël François Jean-Baptiste Suys born in Tournai on march 8, 1891 and passed away on march 4, 1954
• Genevieve Florence Desired Marguerite Suys born in Tournai on January 3, 1893 and died on march 15, 1981
• Joseph Jean Marie Ghislain Suys, born at Tournai on 28 may 1896, and died at Tournai on 28 may 1896
• Daisy Marie Louise Sophie Ghislaine Suys born in Tournai on April 19, 1897 and died on July 6, 1976
• Marie Joseph Ghislaine Suys born in Tournai on December 15, 1904 and died at Tournai on December 18, 1987

To go further :

References (available at the documentation center of the Museum or the Museum shop) : 

Rod puppet : 

• Al’ Comédie! Marionnettes traditionnelles en Flandre française de langue picarde / Andrée Leroux, Alain Guillemin / Dunkirk / 1984 / French / 166 pp. / 27 cm
• Une tradition de marionnettes à tringle / Centre de la Marionnette de la Communauté française de Belgique and Maison de la Culture de Tournai / Tournai / 1988 / French / 25 pp. / 30 cm
• La marionnette à tringle : un passé, un présent, quel avenir? Recueil des actes du colloque autour de la marionnette à tringle / Centre de la Marionnette / Belgium (Lansman) / 2011 / French / 120 pp.
• Héros de fil et de bois / Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse / France (Éditions Invenit) / 2018 / French / 152 pp.
• Georges Grard : Les marionnettes tournaisiennes et le relief des Poriginelles / Mme Vormezeele / Tournai / 1984 / French / 26 pp. / 24 cm
• Carnet découverte 2 – Les Poriginelles tournaisiennes : une tradition de marionnette à tringle picarde / Centre de la Marionnette de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles / Belgium / 2023

Tournai folklore : 

• The folklore of Tournai and the Tournaisis / Walter Ravez / Belgium (Casterman ) / 1949

The Suys Family and Life in Tournai

His father, Jean-Baptiste Suys, was a chorister at Tournai Cathedral for nearly 60 years, continuing in the role until the age of 90.

His sister, Geneviève, became Sister Flore at the end of the Second World War. In 1947, she took charge of the social home on Rue des Sœurs-de-la-Charité in Tournai, where she remained for more than 20 years. She was described as being “always in contact with the sick, people with disabilities, those with reduced mobility, and elderly people suffering from loneliness. Sister Flore, with her typically Tournai sense of humour, always found the right tone and words to comfort, console and give people courage.” (Nord Éclair (Tournai), “Sœur Flore Suys n’est plus”, 17 March 1981.)

He was the chaplain of the Workers House on Rue As-Pois in Tournai and actively participated in local life, its traditions, folklore and religious life.

The Arrest of Abbot Suys

Raphaël Suys was arrested at his home on Place de Lille on 30 May 1944 for “providing assistance to persons sought by the enemy.” He was initially interned in Tournai until 13 June 1944, then held at Antwerp Prison until 25 July 1944. He was officially recognised as a political prisoner on 7 March 1951 and granted Resistant status on 4 February 1953.

According to residents of the Sainte-Marguerite neighbourhood, Abbot Suys was part of a resistance network operating beneath Place de Lille in Tournai. The cellars were reportedly made available by a resistance network that sheltered British airmen. It is also said that the priest preached against the occupying forces and encouraged his parishioners to oppose the enemy.