17 Days in Madagascar

In September 2025, youth-led protests in Madagascar grew into a nationwide uprising that ultimately forced the president from power. During the 17 days of protests, DAWNING’s Graphic Storytelling Director, Eric Andriantsialonina, documented events in real time through daily watercolor drawings and verified accounts. Here, he presents a selection of 11 of those drawings and the story behind them.

They announced the protests a few days before. We knew that on September 25 something would happen. My wife works in the city center, and we knew she wouldn’t be able to park that day, so I drove her to work. There were policemen everywhere in the early morning, and they were blocking the May 13th Square, a protest landmark in Antananarivo.

Back home I switched on the radio. People were protesting for water and electricity –that’s how it all started. I looked at social media, which was faster than the radio. I realized quickly that this was not like any other protest. The police were throwing tear gas at the protesters.

“I can’t make a difference on the street, but I can draw and tell the story.”

At the end of the workday, I returned to the city center to pick up my wife. I had to park far and then walk for a few minutes. People were blocking roads and burning tires. I took some pictures with my phone. In the car, my wife and I discussed how the government had created fake accounts on social media containing propaganda and fake news. The war would not only be on the streets but on social media.

As soon as we got home, I started to sketch –it’s what I do every day. I had developed a series of sketches under the title “Waiting for my wife” –everyday street scenes I draw when I am in the car waiting for her. This day was different because it was an extraordinary event. But I didn’t know my first drawing of the protests would become its own series.

On the third day, I uploaded the second drawing together with a written account of the day’s events that I collected and fact-checked through multiple independent sources. I got an overwhelming response. I told myself: I can’t make a difference on the street, but I can draw and tell the story. I realized I had to be part of the movement.

September 25, 2025 | “I couldn’t sleep that night.”

I parked quite far because the streets were blocked. I had been walking for 15 minutes to pick up my wife when I came upon this scene. I took different pictures. There was no fighting, no police. People were angry. It was loud. The smell of burnt tires was unbearable. The air was thick and dark.

I was witnessing vandalism, but I also heard about looting –we found out soon that looting was sponsored by the government to make the movement look bad. Above all, I was worried about my family –that people could attack my house. Everybody was worried. This was not yet an uprising, but it felt like it was headed there, quickly.

When I am stressed, I do watercolor –it’s like my own form of meditation. I couldn’t sleep that night. I made this drawing in distress. I finished and uploaded it very late into the night. My family was sleeping. The house was in complete silence.

I did this first drawing because I couldn’t get it out of my head. I saw the scene with my own eyes. The next day I just looked at other people’s pictures on social media. I thought it was not good to use other people’s photos as a reference for my work, and I just kept up with the news and went about my day. But then, the following day, I saw Mikolo.

September 27, 2025 | “I had to be part of the movement.”

This is Mikolo, a university student. He stood in front of the police and gave a speech that was recorded on video by someone. It went viral. He said he wanted to talk to the president. He spoke about water, electricity, roads, education, healthcare. He touched everyone with his speech –a student who made and sold soap to support himself.

When I saw the video, I knew I had to draw him. He had great courage, and people knew he was doing the right thing. His speech gave people the strength to continue the fight.

The watercolor is based on a still from the video. At this moment, I didn’t care about the fact that I wasn’t there. I knew I needed to talk about what happened. Seeing Mikolo made me realize that I had to be part of the movement.

I drew him at night, after working 12 hours on a new book. When I posted it, many people wrote to me. They liked the way I approached the moment. In the middle of violence, I presented a watercolor. The public response I got inspired me to continue.

September 30, 2025 | “I’d be in jail now.”

At the beginning, protesters were asking for electricity and water, but now they wanted the president to resign. The military started to use more force. The movement spread to other cities beyond Antananarivo. In just five days, we had a national movement, a real uprising.

This watercolor shows Democracy Square, a place built by the president in Antananarivo after the coup of 2009. It’s ironic, but Democracy Square was heavily guarded –the president didn’t allow protesters to get near it.

The watercolor is a recreation made from multiple photographic and video references. I used this technique throughout the protests.

I knew at this point that there was no turning back. I knew I had to spend two hours every night making a drawing and summarizing the news. I listened to the radio all day and watched television at night. I trusted some media. When radio, television and social media reports coincided, I knew it had to be true.

Of course, I was afraid that if things didn’t go well, if the movement failed, I would suffer. I’d be in jail now. But people were thanking me for my work.

October 1, 2025 | “It could happen to anyone.”

The military was becoming more aggressive. They were using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. Some families helped by inviting protesters into their homes to take cover or recover from these attacks. At some point, the military threw tear gas at these houses that were hosting protesters.

That’s the theme of this watercolor. This family had to leave their house through a window. There were some people helping them. The drawing is from a video still.

I chose to draw it because it shows an attack on innocent people who were not even protesting. If it could happen to them, it could happen to anyone.

October 3, 2025 | “After a 24-hour blackout.”

That day, the president gave a speech on social media. He said that the origin of the movement was artificial intelligence, that AI had created the movement. It was evident he was living in a different world; he couldn’t see that real people were fighting for their country. It was the speech of a lunatic.

I made this drawing after a 24-hour blackout. It’s inspired by a diversity of photos. The logo on their shirts is the logo of the movement. This was my reaction to the president’s speech. He was insulting people who were fighting for their rights.

October 6, 2025 | “The paper helped me.”

This is the 12th day of protests, and some protesters were getting gas masks. There was a lot of tear gas. It was impossible to get into Democracy Square. Those with masks took the front line. It was mostly young people, Gen Z. There was no political leader behind it. It was a popular movement inviting everyone to join.

This is a watercolor of resistance. It was inspired by three different photos. I changed the paper for this watercolor because I wanted a different energy in it. It is a paper made of wood pulp, not cotton; this paper is rougher than cotton and allows for a stronger line. The strong line here is different from my other drawings in the series.

I wanted to show that the protesters were many. It was the whole country together. The watercolor aims to say that we don’t quit unless there is change because that was the feeling on the street at that point.

It took time to draw this one. I was nervous. The paper helped me.

October 8, 2025 | “I had always wanted to draw her.”

As the movement grew, artists joined the protests. This is Bodo, a famous singer. I went to see her in concert earlier this year. I love her songs; she’s in our family playlist. I had always wanted to draw her, and this day was the right moment to do it.

The scene shows her talking to the military who were blocking access to Democracy Square. She demonstrated a lot of courage.

She’s like our Whitney Houston. She has one of the greatest voices in Madagascar, and here she showed her voice is still powerful when not singing.

October 9, 2025 | “I drew this very quickly.”

This is Mikolo again, the student who gave the speech on the third day of protests. At this point, he had become the main leader of the movement. He was arrested and people immediately asked for his release on social media.

I drew this very quickly. A bad photo of his arrest is all I had as reference. In just 30 minutes, I uploaded it for the world to see. Mikolo was released three hours later. Later that day, much better pictures of his arrest came out, but I felt I had to move quickly on this one.

I was able to draw it in just 30 minutes because I was in my studio –I couldn’t have done it that fast if I were sketching on the street. My discipline has limitations but, in a world where images spread so quickly, watercolor brings a different texture to the news.

All sorts of people wrote to me: people in Madagascar, Malagasy diaspora from around the world, foreign media. They told me that my drawings made the news more digestible for them. Drawing is my process, my own way of digesting what’s around me. I think it’s easier to feel the news with watercolor. It’s like adding a bit of poetry to hard news.

October 10, 2025 | “A portrait of Madagascar.”

This is the 16th day of protests, the day before the end. People were fighting back, kicking back the tear gas canisters. The movement was growing and growing. Every corner of Madagascar was a protest.

This drawing is like a portrait of Madagascar at that point. This is the point of no return.

October 11, 2025 | “The rock symbolized the end of it all.”

I had the feeling something was about to change. Only a few days before, the military had become even more violent –they burned a woman’s hair and threw tear gas near a hospital… But this day the military stopped following orders. They decided to take control of the nation. People finally entered Democracy Square.

People couldn’t yet access the May 13th Square, the other symbolic place in Antananarivo. The military were retreating slowly. The woman in this drawing is Soa de Valiha. She was unafraid, throwing rocks at the military. This happened at about three in the afternoon.

She became the woman of the day. I wanted to highlight the importance of women in the movement. Everyone knew that Soa’s contribution that day was massive. The government was about to fall. The rock thrown by Soa symbolized the end of it all.

October 11, 2025 | “This is the image I had hoped to draw.”

My second drawing of the day. At about five in the afternoon a military car enters May 13th Square surrounded by protesters. This is the image I had hoped to draw from the beginning. It took me 2 hours and I felt joy doing it. The last one in the series. It’s a communion moment. I used different pictures as a reference.

I added the flag to the drawing because I felt it was a victory for Madagascar.

You can see the full series, along with the original texts that accompanied each drawing, on Eric’s Instagram page.