Things I made a long time ago and haven’t showed to you yet:

This illustration I made for Climate Illustrated. It illustrates a story by Clara, a young climate activist, who took part in the protests and occupations around Lützerath in January 2023. For those of you who haven’t heard of it: Lützerath was a village in the West of Germany that was demolished by RWE, a big energy company, to expand coal mining in the region. There were many and long-lasting protests, demonstrations and occupations trying to prevent the demolition.

I personally was not taking part in the protests but they were all around me during that time, in the news, in discussions with friends. I was following the news every day, hoping so much for a success, that the village could stay and that the coal would be kept in the ground. Unfortunately the village was demolished in the end, which left many activists exhausted and frustrated – including myself.

I decided I wanted to collect a story about Lützerath for Climate Illustrated. I was lucky and met Clara at a local demonstration, and asked her if she could write down her experiences, thoughts and feelings around the protests. She gladly did. And it was just the next step that I would be the person to illustrate her story. So here is the final illustration.

In the end of her story, Clara writes: »Lützi lives on with us in the form of knowledge, community, shared experiences, and memories.« and I really like these words, they give me hope.

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