Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Mid-autumn, for two days, from dawn till dusk, the women of Coventry Walking Forest brought their activism to the city streets, carrying a felled tree. This act symbolised endurance, love for the planet, and a commitment to future generations. It was a moving tribute to the loss of forests and ecosystems worldwide while also sowing seeds of courage for the future.

 

This performance emerged from the camp through the imagination and vision of all who participated. Over days in various locations, we came together to plan, build, and rehearse our message to the city.

 

Production materials were natural, recycled, found, borrowed or repurposed.

 

I was lucky to create the costumes. We strode forth with ideas about the functional attire of the suffragettes retrieved from deep in my Textile GCSE concerning the Rational Dress Society. Suffragette skirts were made in two parts, allowing the wearer to move her legs and be agile while maintaining modesty. Indeed, not only could she march, but she could play tennis. These practical vessels were adorned with pockets for practical, political, and gender-based purposes, with some saying the aim of deliberately adopting the pose of a man with his hands in his hip pockets. Echoing history and making the uniform practical, personal and striking - a utility split leg pinny was devised, each adorned with mycelium-linked photos, embellished patches, statements, prized items, and a tool belt. The decoration included 'more-than-human woodland beings' that each woman chose to stand for or 'carry' throughout the two days.

 

The core collective designed the route, choreography, costume and props; many other women came to help and bear witness on the day. Silently, a pinny-clad procession walked through the streets tinkling bells, carrying a felled tree on their shoulders, led by a costumed spirit and trailed by women carrying Earth's prized treasures. Period stops were planned to tell stories, share and create.

 

The tree we carried was a birch, felled in Coventry in its prime, close to the Heart of England Way to make way for the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail link. Birch trees are often the first species to populate open ground, lasting up to two hundred years. They have a folklore with solid associations with loss, renewal, and new beginnings. In honour of the death of this tree, we held a space to mark the relentless and ongoing destruction of trees and Nature around the world.

 

'We bear our collective grief over our loss of the natural world, species, ancient woodlands, as women, as ancestors. We demonstrate courage and vulnerability, creating space for lament, but also inspiring hope, the feeling we are not alone.'

Alice, Walking Forest

 

The tree became a space to gather, belong, learn, contemplate and create through arranged interventions concerning:

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