Tree cut down due to HS2 carried across Coventry by activists
They'll take the tree to Glasgow for the Cop26 summit at the end of the month
Artists and female activists will carry limbs of a tree that was cut down to make room for HS2 across Coventry this weekend.
The epic climate action is being led by Walking Forest Coventry, a street-based, city-wide walking performance taking place from dawn until dusk on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 October.
Walking Forest artists Ruth Ben-Tovim, Shelley Castle, Anne-Marie Culhane and Lucy Neal co-created the project, and are inviting members of the public to participate.
They'll each be joined by local women helping carry parts of the felled tree through Coventry's streets, pausing at different points to turn the tree into a speakers' corner.
At various intervals across the journey the tree parts will provide a shelter, a stage and a space where all participants of the walk can eat, rest and exchange stories together.
The initiative was designed to help women in Coventry find their own voice, be courageous and inspire others to take action.
The performance section of the walk will explore topics such as Coventry's suffragette past, sustainable and localised ways to produce and consume food, as well as climate change across generations.
Alice Khimasia, Walking Forest tree carrier, said: “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 said: “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.”
The whole initiative forms part of the Green Futures programme at Coventry's UK City of Culture.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has given £3 million in funding so that the project can showcase how arts, culture and heritage can act as a vehicle for climate action.