Student drawings after the Devecser red-sludge disaster

Works by pupils of Gárdonyi Géza Elementary School, Devecser, Hungary.

On 4 October 2010, toxic red sludge from an aluminium plant in Ajka flooded three nearby localities, including Devecser. Children responded to the disaster in different ways, including psychosomatic symptoms. Drawing, also used in psychotherapy, offered a way to express their experience and process the shock. Children's drawings can also show their perspectives on issues that matter to them. These works were made during the week after the disaster at the local school for a drawing competition on the theme ‘Red Sludge and Red Mars’. Not every drawing depicts a planetary body, but most do. All submitted drawings are shown here.