From Monday 15 April: Extinction Rebellion to bring London to a standstill with extensive line-up of beautifully curated, artist-led actions

• Starting Monday 15 April, Extinction Rebellion to host extensive line-up of artist-led actions with aim of causing mass, non-violent disruption
• From group activities, performances and processions, Extinction Rebellion promise you won’t want to miss this!
• From 11am Monday 15 April, Extinction Rebellion is taking to the streets of

London to block traffic day after day at five high profile central locations – Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, Waterloo Bridge, Parliament Square and Piccadilly Circus – causing large scale disruption to force the Government to take urgent action on the Climate and Ecological Emergency

Interested in a London with clean air, community spirit and creative solutions to big problems? Fancy helping us envision a world that’s clean, hopeful and safe for our children?

This Monday morning, the 15 April, the International Rebellion begins and Extinction Rebellion will be bringing London to a standstill for up to two weeks.[1] They will be blocking five of the city’s busiest and most iconic locations in a non-violent, peaceful act of rebellion where they invite people to join them for several days of creative, artist-led resistance – with peoples’ assemblies, art actions, stage performances, talks, workshops, food and family spaces. You can find out more about the International Rebellion here.

The Rebellion is an opportunity for people to make their voices heard, but it’s also a chance to get together and celebrate our love for all life on earth. This is an opportunity to learn from one another and explore how we can build a beautiful and resilient future for everyone.

All week there will be entrancing artist-led actions taking place, alongside bands, speakers and DJ’s.  Extinction Rebellion is inviting ALL of you to join in these activities to make them as powerful and as possible!

Please see below for the line-up of creative actions starting 15 April:

Flags and Banners Gathering April 15th, 11.30am, Parliament Square

International Rebellion opens at Parliament Square with a colourful display of flags and banners created by regional working groups around the country. The united banners will reflect the diverse geographic spread of the movement and give a strong message to the world.

This reflects Extinction Rebellion’s third demand, for a Citizen’s Assembly to deliberate decisions about the most effective way for the UK to become carbon-neutral by 2025.

Extinction March April 15th, 2pm, Parliament Square

A ceremony and funeral procession led by a New Orleans brass band and large scale skeleton puppets of extinct and endangered creatures. This is a moment to grieve together at the loss of life on earth and reflect deeply on our place in the world.

Join the facebook group Skeletons for Rebellion to watch instructional videos on how to construct skeleton models and draw inspiration from our creations.

Species Graveyard April,15th, Parliament Square

This installation will be part of the Extinction March and appear at Parliament Square. Print out these placards to raise awareness of the minimum 200 species going extinct every year. Here’s a link to the PDF and PPT on how to create the graveyard as a pop-up installation which can be replicated and brought out to protests: https://we.tl/t-VpgnLjJKPu

Dead Canary Emissary April 15th, Parliament Square

The Irish prime Minister said “If we were miners, we would be up to our knees in dead canaries”. People all over the country have been making Dead Canary Emissaries to send to London as a message to the government to take notice of the warning signs. We’ll make a knee high pile in Parliament Square as a manifestation of the predicament we’re in! Sponsor an Emissary to have your voice heard if you can’t make it or bring along your hand made canaries and pile them high!

Mrs Noah – A Comedy by April de Angelis April 15th, 6pm (15mins), Parliament Square

Noah wants to escape the flood but Mrs Noah won’t get on the boat without her girlfriends. A comic take on a medieval mystery play in the age of climate change.

Cast

Ade Adepitan (BBC presenter and Paralympian athlete) as God.

Naomi Paxton (Ada Campe and the Psychic Duck- award winning comic artiste “Genius” Sandi Tosvig) as Mrs Noah. Jonah Russell(theatre, film and TV actor)  as Noah

Tamaryn Payne (HOLLYOAKS, VIKINGS, CASUALTY) as Mrs Japhet.

Play Piano for the Planet Tuesday 16th April, 11am-5pm, location TBC 10am Tuesday

Over 40 London-based professional pianists including Julian Jacobson, Benjamin Comeau, Harry the piano and some of the most talented music college students and players from Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, Russia, UK, will gather to perform a ground-breaking ceremonial concert dedicated to the world’s climate refugees in an act of musical solidarity to show that pianists too care about the climate emergency.

They will add to the growing international chorus calling on governments to respond adequately to our “direct existential threat” (António Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN). The performance will be part of a serie of cultural actions organised by Extinction Rebellion taking place in April on London streets supporting mass peaceful action to demand change.

“Emissions continue to rise, authorities continue on a path to climate catastrophe and most people remain unaware of the threat to our national security.  It’s down to us to change course and that’s what these performances are all about.” Lola Perrin, ClimateKeys founder.

The Silence Ends: A Chorus of Voices  April 15th, 4pm, Marble Arch

Add your voice to sound the opening of the rebellion and end the silence on the climate emergency. This will be massive – all of you are welcome to participate in this powerful spoken word event led by John Farndon, with music from Lewis Murphy performed by Rob Szmanyek and friends. If your group would like to join in, print out the words from the facebook event or contact us on xr.artactions@gmail.com if you would like them sent to you.

Performance Training for Activists

Join these liberating and inspiring training sessions with director and actor Lucy Hopkins. Watch this space for videos coming next week – so you can spread The Regeneration Game through Rebellion!

Street Theatre

Actors are invited to perform a monologue written by April de Angelis, to be performed at various locations during the Rebellion. We are offering workshops with the experienced practitioner, Anna Birch. The workshops will be held near Euston from 9.30am- 2pm on Tuesday 9th and Thursday 11th April. If you would like to join a workshop please email: xrartactions@gmail.com

Invisible Circus

Join the circus!

Red Brigade is a slow motion Buto meets Venice Carnival style procession aiming to create beautiful disruption using the architecture of the streets to create powerful and arresting imagery. Mermaid Queens and crustation nation is a more lively and interactive musical procession with Plastik Paradisco aiming to draw attention to ocean pollution.

Street Circus Cabaret will also be supporting and participating in Circus processions putting performances on a mobile cabaret stage to bedazzle stranded commuters and bewildered tourists, showing humans are capable of beautiful and impossible things!

Sounding the 12 Years April 15th, midday, Parliament Square

Churches will be ringing their bells during Rebellion week, 12 times to signify the number of years the UN have told us we have to make a positive impact on our climate. Bring an instrument to bang or ring, such as a small bell or a cooking pot and a spoon or an air-raid siren! Our sounds will kick off the Rebellion and create a voluminous cacophony twelve times to signify the number of years the UN have told us we have to make a positive impact on our climate.

Cosmo Sheldrake (musician) is brewing a sound based action which requires lots of people to bring a portable speaker that can jack into their phone (bring a lead cos Bluetooth has a lag). The app is in development and will involve a chorus of Birdsong.

Earth Speaks April 15th, Garden Stage

Spoken Word, Rap, Poetry and Song will speak for the Earth, using the ancient art of oration to alert others to the current climate crisis. Artists will have designated stage time and amplification to perform their work.

REBELLION – WARM UP

Fashion Circus Friday 12th April, 6-30 – 7.30pm, Oxford Circus

Join this dynamic sustainable fashion show at the cross-roads of Oxford Circus.

Samba for Rebellion

Join an XR Samba Band! We are going to have at least two Samba bands and there will be workshops for new players the weekend before Rebellion Sat 13 – Sun 14th April, likely near Euston. If you already play Samba and then get in touch so we can allocate you a drum and space.

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We hope you feel inspired to share your creativity in this celebration of life and rebellion against extinction. If your group has already got a creative idea on the go then we can’t wait to see it!!!

Get in touch

• To perform on a stage contact: xr_music@protonmail.com
• Art, circus, street performance, street music, wild ideas or anything else contact: xr.artactions@gmail.com

Why disruption?

Civil disobedience works when it’s peaceful, respectful, disruptive and undertaken en masse. We don’t want to disrupt people, but our Government’s failure over the last 30 years leaves us no choice to bring this to people’s attention.  If we had functioning democracies we wouldn’t need to disrupt everyday lives. We’ve tried petitions, marches, letters, reports, papers, meetings, even direct actions; and global emissions have continued to rise. Governments prioritise the short term interests of the economic elites, so to get their attention, we have to disrupt the economy. They have left us with no other option.

Actions & Legal Implications

Once you arrive at a site, you will find a “Welcome Table” where there will be information and questions answered, as well as multiple inductions and NVDA trainings happening throughout the day.

This movement welcomes and supports the involvement of people of all ages, ethnicities, capacities, and backgrounds with recognition that the least privileged are the hardest hit by the environmental crisis. We acknowledge that ethnic minorities and those with mental health conditions and physical disabilities in particular receive harsher treatment from police, and support everyone’s individual decision as to their level of involvement in non-violent direct action.

By joining together in the road – standing, singing, doing workshops – we will be taking nonviolent direct action and risking arrest. If the police move to make arrests, those who are prepared to get arrested can stay sitting and await arrest, while those who are not willing to get arrested can move off the roads. Moving off the road will reduce your risk of getting arrested.

Everyone is welcome in the Rebellion and you are always free to decide on your level of involvement in the street performances or roadblocks.

Before you attend the International Rebellion, please read this legal preparation briefing. The briefing also includes some links for further research – you know your individual circumstances better than anyone else and you might need to do some additional research on how your actions could affect these circumstances. Please note that we must all take responsibility for our own actions.

During the Rebellion please call in arrests on London actions to – 07749335574

We are coming together to protect life on Earth – that includes the spaces and people of London. So treat passers-by with kindness and don’t cause any violent damage to the spaces where we will come together to rebel for our future. Some of these spaces will include parks and world heritage sites that we should all treat with the respect that they deserve. A lack of respect for these spaces will not only reflect badly upon our movement, but could also have severe legal implications for you. We are coming together in celebration of life.

Accessibility

We want everyone to be welcome, safe and able to take part in the rebellion.  If you have specific access requirements, please email us on xraccessibility@gmail.com.

Notes to Editors

[1] About International Rebellion

[2] About Extinction Rebellion
Time has almost entirely run out to address the ecological crisis which is upon us, including the 6th mass species extinction and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices, with human extinction also a possibility, if rapid action is not taken.

Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by its Government.

Extinction Rebellion’s topline demands are that the:

• Government and other institutions must tell the truth and declare a climate and ecological emergency
• Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025
• Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

UK Declaration of Rebellion: https://rebellion.earth/declaration/

Get involved in Extinction Rebellion’s other events

• In the UK, come to one of our events, join the Rebellion Network and let us know how you can help out
• Start a group where you are – locally in the UK or in your country around the world
• Find your local group: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=11jUqqjTHMThksd4KbvGGzb3I3Cr3PkBl&usp=sharing
• Check out the International XR website, with links to the French, German, Italian and UK websites
• We are holding Collaborative Leadership Calls to help coach people to improve their leadership skills and capacities
• And while your time and energy are the most important things, if you are financially able to donate money, see our Fundrazr crowdfunder.

Email: xr.artactions@gmail.com / press@risingup.org.uk
Phone: +44(0)7561098449 / +44(0)7970997075
Website: www.rebellion.earth
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExtinctionR; #ExtinctionRebellion #XRArts
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/extinctionrebellion/
Photos/videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m1v7Cs8JFkDM1gHp45OF-NwwhLzPZJO8
Climate Factsheet for Rebels: https://rebellion.earth/the-climate-factsheet-for-rebels