Pigeons Always Fly Home mural by Adèle Renault, Avenue André Grégoire, old Stavelot railway station, Stavelot, Belgium
Pigeons Always Fly Home
Adèle Renault · “Pigeons always fly home”, mural on the gable of a house, painted 7–13 March 2022 · n°23 Avenue André Grégoire, by the old Stavelot railway station, Stavelot
Photo: © Adèle Renault (per the cultural centre’s file name), via Centre culturel Stavelot-Trois-Ponts
On the gable of a house beside the old Stavelot railway station, one pigeon looks down at the cycle path: a pale beak, an orange eye, and a real window in the middle of its face. Adèle Renault, who grew up in nearby Exbomont, painted it between 7 and 13 March 2022 at the invitation of the local cultural centre. It became the first stop of “Voie-x d’Artistes”, an art trail along the RAVeL path towards Trois-Ponts and Hockai. The newest dated source we found is the trail’s press kit for its opening on 19 April 2023.
5 things to know
- Painted in one week in March 2022La DH: “Entre le 7 et le 13 mars, sur invitation du Centre culturel, Adèle Renault est venue colorer de son talent, le pignon de la maison située au n°23 de l’Avenue André Grégoire à Stavelot.” (“Between 7 and 13 March, at the invitation of the cultural centre, Adèle Renault came to colour the gable of the house at no. 23 Avenue André Grégoire in Stavelot with her talent.”) La Meuse and Ardenne Web give the same dates. La DH, 2022 · La Meuse, 2022 · Ardenne Web, 2022
- First announced for June 2021La Meuse: “D’abord annoncée en juin 2021, puis reportée au printemps 2022” (“First announced for June 2021, then postponed to spring 2022”). An Ardenne Web page dated 29 June 2021 already describes the mural as painted “en cette fin juin” (“at the end of this June”), which is why one source gives the wrong year. La Meuse, 2022 · Ardenne Web, 2021
- Work 0 of an art trailThe press kit for the trail: “Le « pigeon » d’Adèle Renault est donc devenu le point de départ, l’œuvre 0, d’un parcours artistique in situ” (“Adèle Renault’s ‘pigeon’ thus became the starting point, work 0, of an in-situ art trail”). Ten more works followed along the RAVeL 45 and 44A paths between Trois-Ponts and Hockai, and the trail opened on 19 April 2023. Press kit, 2023 · RTBF, 2023
- An old pigeon-fancier traditionThe cultural centre: “Le travail de l’artiste Adèle Renault remet au goût du jour la tradition des portraits de pigeons, commandés à l’époque par les colombophiles, pratique disparue aujourd’hui.” (“Adèle Renault’s work revives the tradition of pigeon portraits, once commissioned by pigeon fanciers, a practice that has since disappeared.”) Centre culturel · Press kit, 2023
- Painted close to homeThe cultural centre says Renault grew up in Exbomont, “tout près de Stavelot” (“very close to Stavelot”), and came back to her home region after painting pigeons around the world. Her own CV lists the work as a 2022 mural for the Stavelot Cultural Center. Centre culturel · Artist’s CV
Check-in guide
- 📍
- The gable of the house at n°23 Avenue André Grégoire, at the old Stavelot railway station (La DH, Centre culturel).
- 🚲
- It is visible from the RAVeL cycle path when you ride from Trois-Ponts towards Stavelot (Ardenne Web, press kit). Look for the small window in the bird’s face.
- 🧭
- The Maps button uses the GPS coordinates the cultural centre gives for the work, 50.390351, 5.923199.
Sightings
- 202213 Mar
Artist’s photo, file dated
- 202215 Mar
La Meuse report
- 202216 Mar
La DH report
- 202217 Mar
Ardenne Web report
- 202319 Apr
Trail press kit
Every stamp links to the dated source. The green stamp is the photo at the top of this page: the cultural centre hosts it under a file name crediting Adèle Renault, and the camera clock in the file was not set (it reads 1 January 2000), but the file’s metadata shows it was processed in Adobe Camera Raw and saved in Photoshop on 13 March 2022, between 16:55 and 17:01 CET, the last day of painting. So the photo was taken on or before 13 March 2022. That is a file date, not a date published by a person. The amber stamps are news reports from the week the mural was finished, and the press kit for the opening of the Voie-x d’Artistes trail on 19 April 2023, which describes the pigeon as the trail’s starting point and says the eleven works “sont désormais visibles” (“are now visible”). We found no dated photo taken after March 2022. The cultural centre still lists the work on its trail page (archived on 19 April 2026), but a listing is not a sighting, so the stamp stays at April 2023.
On the record
Un immense pigeon d’Adèle Renault observe les passants à Stavelot
“Les habitués du RAVeL vont devoir s’y faire : un immense pigeon les dévisage à présent à Stavelot.”
“RAVeL regulars will have to get used to it: a huge pigeon now stares at them in Stavelot.” The Verviers regional daily on the finished mural; we read the text through a reader’s repost, as the paper’s site was not reachable for us. The paper’s original URL now redirects to its Verviers section page; the full text is also reposted on the Vélo-RAVeL forum, 3 April 2022.
Une fresque d’Adèle, une artiste de street art internationalement reconnue
“Incarnant les villes, le voyage, le message, la liberté, le déplacement, les pigeons d’Adèle étaient le symbole idéal pour s’inscrire dans la thématique du parcours “Voie-X d’artistes”.”
“Embodying cities, travel, the message, freedom and movement, Adèle’s pigeons were the ideal symbol for the theme of the ‘Voie-X d’artistes’ trail.” The Liège regional pages on the mural that opened the trail.
Une fresque d’Adèle Renault à Stavelot
“Je peins ce que j’observe et j’observe ce que je peins.”
“I paint what I observe and I observe what I paint.” Renault in an interview with the Ardennes news site, in a piece about the Stavelot mural dated 29 June 2021, on why she paints pigeons in close-up.
Parcours artistique entre Stavelot et Trois-Ponts
“Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps… C’est un pigeon qui, au printemps 2022, a marqué, à Stavelot, le coup d’envoi de ce parcours artistique”
“One swallow does not make a spring… It was a pigeon that, in spring 2022, kicked off this art trail in Stavelot.” The press kit for the trail’s opening, published by Wallonia’s mobility and infrastructure service.
The facts
- Artist
- Adèle Renault (Adele Renault), Belgian painter who grew up in Exbomont near Stavelot (Centre culturel, La DH, La Meuse, artist’s CV) Checked
- Title
- “Pigeons always fly home”, an English title on the French-language trail page and press kit (Centre culturel, press kit) Checked
- Made
- 7–13 March 2022 (La DH, La Meuse, Ardenne Web, 2022); “printemps 2022” in the press kit and 2022 in the artist’s CV (press kit, artist’s CV) Checked
- Other date
- An Ardenne Web page dated 29 June 2021 says Renault painted the gable “en cette fin juin” (“at the end of this June”) (Ardenne Web, 2021) Conflicting. We go with March 2022: La Meuse says the mural was announced for June 2021 and then postponed to spring 2022, and La DH, Ardenne Web’s March 2022 report, the press kit, the artist’s CV and the photo file’s 13 March 2022 save date all point to 2022 (La Meuse).
- Commission
- Painted at the invitation of the Centre culturel Stavelot-Trois-Ponts (La DH, Ardenne Web); the artist’s CV lists it as a mural for “The Stavelot Cultural Center” (artist’s CV) Checked
- Project
- Work 0 and starting point of the “Voie-x d’Artistes” art trail along the RAVeL 45 and 44A between Stavelot, Trois-Ponts and Hockai; eleven works in all, installed between spring 2022 and spring 2023, opened 19 April 2023 (press kit, La DH, RTBF) Checked
- Medium
- Mural painted on the “pignon” (gable end) of a house; the photo shows it covering the slate-clad gable and the wall of a lower annex down to the ground (La DH, photo) Checked. The paint and the wall’s size are not given in any source we found Unconfirmed
- Place
- n°23 Avenue André Grégoire, 4970 Stavelot, at the old railway station, visible from the RAVeL when riding from Trois-Ponts towards Stavelot; GPS 50.390351, 5.923199 (Centre culturel, La DH, press kit) Checked
- Our photo
- The photo above is hosted by the cultural centre under a file name crediting Adèle Renault, with a Photoshop save date of 13 March 2022 in the file (the camera clock was unset); we cropped it to portrait (Centre culturel) Checked
- Status
- Seen April 2023: the trail press kit for the opening on 19 April 2023 names the pigeon as the trail’s starting point among the works now visible (press kit) Checked. No dated photo after March 2022 found Unconfirmed
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: The Easiest Birdwatching You’ll Ever Do (12 Photos) (11 October 2026), where this mural is work no. 1. An earlier post: This Stunning Pigeon Mural in Belgium Is a Must-See.
- The other ten works of the Voie-x d’Artistes trail between Stavelot, Trois-Ponts and Hockai. Press kit (PDF)
- Adèle Renault’s murals around the world, from Los Angeles to Gent. adelerenault.com
All sources (12)
This work
- Centre culturel Stavelot-Trois-Ponts: “Pigeons always fly home”, trail page, checked 12 October 2026 (archived 19 April 2026). Title, pigeon-portrait tradition, place, GPS, Exbomont.
- La DH: “Une fresque d’Adèle, une artiste de street art internationalement reconnue”, La Rédaction, 16 March 2022 (archived). 7–13 March, n°23 Avenue André Grégoire, invitation of the cultural centre, Voie-X d’artistes.
- La Meuse Verviers (Sudinfo): “Un immense pigeon d’Adèle Renault observe les passants à Stavelot”, 15 March 2022, archived copy of 17 March 2022. The paper’s original URL now redirects to its Verviers section page; full text also reposted on the Vélo-RAVeL forum, 3 April 2022. Announced June 2021, postponed to spring 2022, 7–13 March.
- Ardenne Web: “Une fresque de l’artiste Adèle Renault visible à Stavelot.”, François Detry, 17 March 2022. 7–13 March, n°23, invitation of the cultural centre, visible from the RAVeL.
- Ardenne Web: “Une fresque d’Adèle Renault à Stavelot”, dated 29 June 2021. Interview with the artist; says the gable was painted at the end of June (see Conflicting).
- SPW Mobilité et Infrastructures: press kit “Parcours artistique entre Stavelot et Trois-Ponts”, for the opening on 19 April 2023. Work 0, spring 2022, n°23, title, GPS.
- Adèle Renault: CV, artist’s site. “2022 – Mural | The Stavelot Cultural Center | Stavelot, Belgium, EU”.
- Cirkwi: “Pigeons always fly home”, tourist listing with the cultural centre’s text and photo credit CCSTP (not counted as independent).
Dated photos
- Centre culturel: “pigeon-stavelot-copyright-adele-renault”, photo credited to Adèle Renault, file saved 13 March 2022 (shot on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III whose clock was unset). The photo at the top of this page.
Context
- RTBF: “Un parcours d’artistes s’est implanté le long du ravel Trois-Ponts – Hockai”, Olivier Thunus, 19 April 2023. Eleven works on 18 km; “Les onze œuvres doivent rester en place au moins 10 ans.”
- Wikipedia: “Adele Renault”. “2022 – Mural commissioned by the Stavelot Cultural Center, Belgium” (no reference given).
- Vélo-RAVeL forum: “RAVeL L045 Trois-Ponts – Waimes”, post of 3 April 2022 reposting the La Meuse article in full; we read La Meuse’s text here.
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