Escaping Wars and Waves (Encounters with Syrian refugees)

Based on many interviews, and hundreds of reference photos, these drawings by Olivier Kugler beautifully observed drawings of his interviewees bring to life their location – a room, a camp, on the road. His reporting of their stories is peppered with snatches of conversation and images of the objects that have become such a significant part of their lives. Kugler’s intense graphic reportage drawings have been commissioned by Médecins Sans Frontières and published in The Guardian, Port, Le Monde Diplomatique and many other publications. A portfolio, ‘Waiting State’, published in Harpers, portraying Syrians Kugler met in Iraqi Kurdistan, was the overall winner of the Association of Illustrators World Illustration Awards in 2015. Drawings from Escaping Wars and Waves have been exhibited at Somerset House in London and the Fumetto International Comix Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland, the Helsinki Comics Festival, Rich Mix Gallery in London and at House of Illustration, London. In November 2018, Escaping Wars and Waves won both the Prix du Carnet de Voyage International and the Coup de Coeur Médecins Sans Frontières at the Rendez-vous du Carnet de Voyage.