Erik Thys

As a psychiatrist, Erik Thys (B) is affiliated with the Sint Alexius psychosocial centre in Brussels and the university psychiatric centre at the KU Leuven. He is also a composer, actor, author and strip cartoonist. At the beginning of this year, his very first comic strip (which he both wrote and drew) about autism 'Het geheim van de ruimtelift' (The secret of the space lift) was published by EPO. He had previously published the comic strip 'Alles of niets. Zelfgids voor mensen met bipolaire stoornis' (2004) ('All or nothing. Self-help guide for people with bipolar disorder'). His cartoon was part of 'Het geheim van de hersenchip. Zelfgids voor mensen met een psychose' (2000) ('The secret of the brain-chip. A self-help guide for people experiencing psychosis'), which was a bestseller in fourteen languages. He was also co-author of the books 'Het misverstand - berichten uit de psychiatrie' (1995) ('Misconception - reports from the world of psychiatry') and 'Zin in waanzin' (1996) ('Sanity in insanity'). Erik Thys also works regularly with visual artists. For example, he regularly appears in the films of Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys, his brother. He composed the music for their films 'De Vloek' (1999), 'Ten Weyngaert' (2007) and 'Het Fregat' (2008). In collaboration with the artists Dora Garcia and Richard Venlet, he conceived the play 'Games People Play' which premiered during the Playground Festival 2007 at the STUK in Leuven. He also shares a passion for cars with his brother Harald. On the occasion of the fifth Berlin biennale (2008), they gave a lecture entitled 'the psychoanalysis of the car' as part of the lecture series 'Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours'.