NEVER A SINGULAR STRUGGLE
The climate crisis is a human crisis, and disaster displacement is one of its most devastating consequences. More than 101 million people are displaced from their homes worldwide. The number of refugees is higher than ever before. They are fleeing from war, persecution, and the impacts of the climate crisis. Climate change exacerbates conflicts, environmental disasters, poverty, and famines, driving more and more people to seek refuge. Often, it is the poorest regions that are most affected, despite contributing the least to global emissions. In just the first five months of this year, over 1,000 people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea while attempting to cross it (UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency | UNHCR). This underscores that climate justice is not just an isolated ecological struggle; it is a fight for humanity.
CLIMATE JUSTICE IS HUMAN JUSTICE
#HUMANITYFORALL
OUR COLLAB – HUMANITY FOR ALL
We’ve joined forces with SOS HUMANITY and artist GABE to create a limited-edition artist T to benefit and promote #humanityforall – a campaign to end people drowning while fleeing at sea. As part of the collaboration, we’re donating all profits from T-shirt sales to SOS HUMANITY.
▾ READ MORE
SOS HUMANITY is a non-governmental maritime rescue organization, founded in 2015. Its goal is to ensure that no one drowns while fleeing across the Mediterranean Sea. With their ships, currently the Humanity 1, SOS HUMANITY has already saved 35,673 children, women, and men from drowning, provided them with care on board, and brought them to a safe location on land.
Gabriel Holzner, aka GABE, is a multidisciplinary graphic artist from the South of Germany. His work draws inspiration from his early youth growing up in the '90s – from European comics, graffiti to the Berlin-based magazine »Lodown«. Working across a broad variety of canvases, GABE‘s artworks can be found everywhere from city walls and art prints to paintings and even basketball courts. Here’s what he had to say about our collaboration:
How was the design creation process?
At the core of my process for this project was the celebration of humanity’s diversity with the #humanityforall T-shirt.
Is there a message behind the graphic? / What’s the message behind the graphic?
Most of my artworks are based on the figurative. I try to use a very reduced visual language that still carries something human to connect with. In this case, I worked with an artwork of mine called “Hope” and made a variation of it. It captures the concept of “humanity for all” by integrating various colored shapes within the figure.
How did you like the creation process of this artwork for this special topic? Was it different to your usual work?
This project had a clear message or idea as its foundation, so it was about finding the best possible artwork for this concept and medium. In the past, I have created many concept-based works and also lots of T-shirt art, so I feel it was a very natural process.
How did the collaboration with SOS HUMANITY start?
The collaboration with SOS HUMANITY was kicked off by Gianna approaching me some time ago. She found my work on Instagram and thought I might be interested in becoming a part of that project. I respect the work of SOS HUMANITY so much and being able to support them by creating an artwork is an amazing thing. The fact that they are collaborating with ARMEDANGELS for this project, with their history in sustainable, fair fashion, made it a no-brainer for me to be involved.
How can this T-shirt support SOS HUMANITY in their work? Why do you think their work and creating awareness for this topic is important?
I hope this T-shirt will at least be a small contribution that enables SOS HUMANITY to do their important work and draw attention to the ongoing, inhumane situation in the Mediterranean Sea. With society’s focus constantly shifting to the next catastrophe – an unfortunate reality that, among other things, is rooted in racist structures – I hope this collaboration helps a little in rebuilding awareness.