Urban pigeons aren’t very popular. They leave their droppings on squares, balconies, and monuments, and hobble around on mangled, tattered legs. When pigeons make the news, it’s usually for negative reasons. Yet pigeons weren’t always seen as ‘rats with wings’ or simply ‘pests’. Pigeons and humans share a long history dating back to the Neolithic Revolution, during which pigeons took on many roles: messenger, symbol of peace and the sacred. This comic by Merel Barends and Guido van Hengel traces the evolution of the human imagination’s portrayal of the pigeon, while also creating space to view the pigeon in a new light once again.
This story was made with the support of Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten and CrossComix.
