Expo: Pet or Pest

  • Fri 11 Sep, 13:00 - 20:00
  • Sat 19 Sep, 13:00 - Fri 11 Sep, 20:00
Pet or Pest |Afval op Pootjes. A project by Drawing the Times

Pet or Pest is a collaboration between three comic artists and one author, initiated by Drawing the Times, a platform for graphic journalism.

Why do we feel the urge to cuddle and dress up some animal species, while we view others as dirty, dispensable pests? In three graphic stories the artists examine three animal species who, for better or worse, are living among us human animals: the pigeon, the rat and the ring-necked parakeet.

Merel Barends

Merel Barends (1980) is a comic artist and illustrator. Her work has been published by several renowned publishing houses like De Bezige Bij, Uitgeverij Atlas/Contact and Uitgeverij Podium. She did commissions for a wide range of clients, such as IDFA, Vrij Nederland Magazine, Mindshakes (NRC Media), OneWorld, Amsterdam Young Academy, CPNB and Greenpeace.

Merel barends
Tânia Alexandra Cardoso

Tânia A. Cardoso, illustrator and urbanist, has completed her doctoral research at the University of Amsterdam. Her research, a product of this distinct blend of fields, focuses on the potential of illustration as a form of urban communication.

Tânia Alexandra Cardoso
Guido van Hengel

Guido van Hengel is a historian and writer of narrative non-fiction. He has a PhD in Cultural History from the University of Groningen. In the field of comics, he co-initiated and coordinated a number of international artistic projects, most recently Remix Comix (2022-2024). He is interested in ecology and human-animal relations.

guido van hengel portret
Mark Schalken

Mark Schalken is an artist-designer, as well as an organiser and writer. Through drawing he makes social issues tangible. His stories both provoke and aim to connect. Since 2025 his main project is the creation of a monument for slaughtered cows in Amsterdam, accompagnied by a graphic novel.

mark schalken zelfportret

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