Manneken Pis becomes a tourist in playful new digital art series

Brussels’ most famous statue has spent centuries posing for the countless tourists in the Belgian capital. But in artist Sonja Epple’s new digital collage series, the Manneken Pis gets to enjoy some adventures of his own. 

Inspired by the long-standing tradition of dressing the iconic peeing boy in various costumes, Epple’s project Taking the Pis reimagines the mischievous symbol of Brussels in different locations around the world.

“I love the idea of taking something so deeply tied to a country’s identity and sending it out into the wider world,” said Epple, who was born and raised in Germany but now lives in Minneapolis. 

The digital series sees the statue not only change his wardrobe, but placed directly into the visual culture of  other popular capitals, including New York and Tokyo.

The project builds on one of Belgium’s most beloved cultural traditions. The Manneken Pis wardrobe now contains hundreds of costumes accumulated over decades, with outfits regularly changed to mark cultural events, diplomatic visits and celebrations. They are all stored in a popular museum in the city centre.

But Epple’s work introduces a contemporary twist by turning the statue from spectacle into spectator. Using deliberately playful Photoshop collages rather than AI-generated imagery, the series explores the intersections between fashion, tourism and cultural identity. 

By relocating Manneken Pis into different international settings, Taking the Pis provocatively questions who gets observed, who performs for whom and how national symbols evolve through tourism and cultural exchange.

Photos: Taking the Pis ©Sonja Epple