First Place: Golden Hat Cartoon Festival in Belgium

In 2026, I was awarded first place at The Golden Hat, the oldest cartoon award in Europe. In its 60th edition, 2,160 cartoons by 545 artists from 69 countries were submitted, making this recognition especially meaningful to me. Within this context, it is especially meaningful to be the first woman in the award’s history to receive the Golden Hat.

The jury described the winning work as a simple yet highly eloquent image: a graphite drawing in shades of grey with two touches of color, where a boy watches his kite in fascination, unaware that he is stepping on the string of a girl’s kite, preventing it from fully flying. The girl looks at her low-flying kite, puzzled, without saying anything. Although both children are dressed similarly, the scene subtly points to inequality between men and women.

Although I wasn’t able to attend the ceremony due to my pregnancy, I experienced and celebrated it very closely with my family. I’m deeply grateful to the Cartoon Festival Knokke-Heist team for this recognition.