Who remembers?

October 2008
Acrylic on canvas 60x80cm

Recently I visited the Belgian town of Ieper and the surrounding area and spent some time at war memorials and graves. At every site we visited there was a visitor book to write your thoughts in. Again and again and again I read the same words in these books: "We will never forget." "This can never happen again." "This place is a strong reminder of what happened." "These men will never be forgotten."
I thought about what's going on around the world today and thought about how strange it was for people to think that it is over.

It is easy for us that the people who die in wars today are far away from us... But there are still wives/mothers/sisters who are getting letters with news of their dead children.
We don't remember and we didn't learn...

I collected some fallen oak leaves from the peaceful silent graves and tried to paint what I felt that day.