Michaël Olbrechts

(Belgium, 1987) received the Silvester Strips Debut Award for his book De allerlaatste tijger (The Very Last Tiger) in 2014. Olbrechts draws and tells stories with panache and attention to detail; his work is bright, lively, expressive, and funny. He studied history in Leuven and then cartooning in Brussels. A Belgian of Indonesian background, he based his thesis project, De allerlaatste tijger, on family history. It is about a young family going to visit grandma on a hot summer's day in 1996. As they drive to her assisted-living flat in Oosterbeek, the father tells stories about grandma's youth. He takes the children to a villa in the jungles of Java at the beginning of the 20th century. With his use of colour and narrative style, Olbrechts highlights the contrast between the happy family and grandma's harrowing experiences in the Dutch East Indies. His work combines the carefree world of the classic Franco-Belgian school with the expressiveness of modern Flemish graphic art.