Words and photography Markus Bidaux
On a chilly March morning in Brighton, six pallbearers, carrying a black casket, lead a procession of dozens of people. Flanking them are six women carrying grey tombstones, each reading “R.I.P.” to various animals that have been brought to the brink of extinction because of climate change. The air fills with the skirl from a marching bagpiper, as the protesters hand out flyers. I take one and am immediately drawn in by the motif of bees, colourful skulls and the circled hourglass logo. On the reverse, the flyer warns against criminal inaction on the ecological crisis — time is running out to save the planet from ourselves. This is my first introduction to protest group Extinction Rebellion (XR).