On 15 and 16 October, walking forest artists and local female activists will lead an epic climate action across Coventry, carrying two 7m limbs of a tree recently felled in the nearby Warwickshire Countryside.
Walking Forest Coventry is a street-based, city-wide walking performance action taking place on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 October 2021 from dawn until dusk. It forms part of the Green Futures programme at Coventry UK City of Culture, which is supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund, which has given £3 million in funding and showcases how arts, culture and heritage can act as a vehicle for climate action to make a greener future for us all, our cities, and our planet.
Co-created with Coventry women and Walking Forest artists Ruth Ben-Tovim, Shelley Castle, Anne-Marie Culhane and Lucy Neal, the women will carry the felled tree through the city streets. They will pause at different points along the journey as the tree becomes a speakers’ corner, a shelter, a stage, a space where all we can gather to eat, listen and exchange stories. Walking Forest provides a platform for Coventry Women to find their own voice, plant seeds of courage, and inspire others to take action.
Walking Forest Coventry imagines our city as a forest - its hidden networks and stories and the ability for regeneration and new ways of living. It highlights the devastating impact of human behaviour on the planet, and its ecosystem, through the destruction of natural habitats.
Walking Forest Coventry is inspired by the hidden networks of the forest which reveal that individual trees live in a vibrant community connected via superfine threads of fungi that span the forest underground.
The performance action will explore stories such as that of the Cubbington Pear, a 250 year old pear tree that was named as Britain’s favourite tree before being felled in 2020; Coventry’s suffragette past and what inspires us to act today; as well as explorations of sustainable, equitable and localised ways to produce and eat food and conversations across generations about climate change and its impact locally and globally.
The performance action is a major moment in Walking Forest, a 10 year artwork that culminates in the planting of a new woodland by 2028 to mark the connection between women, activism, climate justice and trees. It will awaken a collective sense of what it is to feel responsible for, and to be able to stand up with as and on behalf of the natural world.
Walking Forest Coventry began with a camp for Coventry women in May 2021, which was followed by a series of making and co-designing workshops over the autumn. Following its time in Coventry, the tree and some of the participants and artists, will make their way to Glasgow for COP26, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties. There it will continue its potent role as a gathering and convening space for women's voices to be heard and hidden stories to be shared. Walking Forest Coventry ends with a ceremony honouring original suffragette Lettice Floyd who gifted the Green Space, Flloyds Field to the citizens of Coventry - 12th December 2021. A seedling will be planted from the last remaining suffragette tree from the Batheston Arboretum planted by Women’s Suffrage campaigners in 1909-1912. This important landscape heritage site was bulldozed in the 1960s.
Green Futures is a flagship programme for Coventry City of Culture Trust. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with support from Garfield Weston Foundation and Severn Trent Community Fund, Green Futures explores Coventry and Warwickshire wildlife, natural heritage, and landscape, uncovering the story of its ‘hidden nature’ and increasing local stewardship. Through the Green Futures programme, Coventry will become the greenest and most environmentally conscious UK City of Culture to date.
Alice Khimasia Walking Forest tree carrier says:
“The Walking Forest unites women in an act of endurance and love for the planet and future generations. Uncovering the hidden energy of women who stand up and speak to defend the Earth, we celebrate, as we go, our connection to the natural world, planting seeds of courage for new beginnings and the renewal of life. We encourage women and children everywhere to walk with us on the day and all to bear witness and join us under the felled tree when we stop”
Chenine Bhathena, Creative Director of Coventry City of Culture Trust says:
“Walking Forest is a call to action for women activists in Coventry and further afield. Rooted in our communities, it will take the stories of Coventry women to Glasgow next month when world leaders gather to focus conversation on the climate crisis.”
Anne Jenkins, Director, England, Midlands & East, National Lottery Heritage Fund, says:
“The National Lottery Heritage Fund is delighted to have funded the Green Futures programme as it is an important and distinct element of the year long Coventry City of Culture plans. The Walking Forest is part of an exciting programme of nature based heritage activities that will engage a wide and diverse range of people across the West Midlands and beyond. A huge thanks to National Lottery players for their support in helping to showcase Coventry’s rich history of arts and culture, both past and present.”