Turner Prize-winning artist takes part in ‘Speakers Corner for Nature’ project during London Climate Action Week
A Turner Prize-winning artist took to a soapbox with scientists, business leaders, campaigners and members of the public to ‘give nature a voice’ during London Climate Action Week.
The Speakers’ Corner for Nature initiative was launched by the University of Exeter’s Nature and Climate Impact Team to mark 154 years since Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park was established in 1872.
It saw 154 speakers, one for each year, respond to the environmental challenges of today.
Launched in partnership with Dutch artist Joep van Lieshout, Project Basecamp and Cats Do Climate, the initiative reimagined the tradition of Speakers’ Corner, with public participation and specially designed soapboxes.
Taking place amid record-breaking high temperatures for June, the Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller was among the first to speak.
He said: “London Climate Action Week, you’ve chosen the best week and the worst week – because of this horrific heatwave in London”.
Asked what nature might say if it could speak, he replied: “Stop eating me, stop spraying terrible stuff on me. Leave me alone.”
Throughout the week, business leaders, citizens, scientists, youth, artists and more braved the heat to speak about the inspiration they draw from the natural world.
They included musician and zoologist Louis VI, and artist and activist Madame Gandhi, who said: “If I could speak for nature, I would say: first, love and take care of yourself. When you do, you are resourced to think about the land, each other and the planet.”
There was also a special live performance from Cornwall by folk singer and Mercury Prize nominee Sam Lee.
Professor Gail Whiteman, co-founder of Project Basecamp and Hoffmann Impact Professor for Accelerating Action on Climate and Nature at the University of Exeter, said: “Nature speaks to all of us and through us. But in today’s political and economic ecosystem, nature needs help and a better platform to speak.
“Speakers’ Corner for Nature showed the strength of feeling across communities, and the willingness of people to stand up – literally and figuratively – for the natural world, in the very place where Speakers’ Corner began.”
Organisers hope Speakers’ Corner for Nature will become a regular feature in communities around the world, providing an accessible platform where anyone can stand up and speak on behalf of the natural world.
An accompanying online campaign invites people everywhere to create their own Speakers’ Corner for Nature using homemade signs and soapboxes, encouraging more voices to speak up for nature.
