Direct! Action!: Protest and the Forest

Artist and curator Ed Webb-Ingall presents Direct! Action!: Protest and the Forest, an exploration of Waltham Forest's rich history of community action and protest through a day of film screenings, discussions and workshops

The development of the M11 link road destroyed neighbourhoods and affected habitats that historically had been part of Epping Forest.

The protests against it remain as historical landmarks in local community action. As part of Waltham Forest, London Borough of Culture there will be a day of screenings, discussions and workshops to investigate Waltham Forest’s rich history of community action and protest.

This will include a discussion from speakers tracing the efforts of Thomas Willingale in the 1800s, whose actions kickstarted the campaign that saved Epping Forest for the people of London, through to the M11 link road protests in the 1990s, documented by the revolutionary activist video group Undercurrents, and finally drawing links to similar, contemporary direct action protest movements.

Following this discussion, the audience will be invited to take part in a Direct Action workshop and take part in the production of a new video. The finished video will be shown as part of Art Night 2019.

Speakers include:

Kelsey
Kelsey is a campaigner from London fighting domestic, sexual and state violence with several grassroots organisations. Kelsey is a co-ordinator for Hollaback! London, a collective fighting sexual harassment in public spaces. 

Paul  
Paul has been involved in independent video production since 1993 and won awards for his films in Germany, USA, Canada and the UK.Paul has filmed direct action protests against car culture, filmed with political comedian Mark Thomas, smuggled a hidden camera into an Israeli prison, and recorded many alternative life styles. His films have also been shown in the Tate Modern.  I have won awards for my films in Germany, USA, Canada and the UK.He also spent 3 years on the M11 link protest from 1993 to 1995. See his work here.

Ellie 
Ellie is an East London born and based composer/violinist, and member of ‘Britain’s most exciting new folk band’ (Uncut Magazine) and 4-time BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominees, Stick In The Wheel. In 2019 she begins a year-long artist residency at Epping Forest, during which she will create a set of new compositions inspired by human impact on the forest through the centuries, and assist with music events and education projects at local schools. 

Lyndsay 
Lyndsay is a participatory facilitator and activist, specialising in public speaking, Theatre of the Oppressed, power and privilege, white allyship for racial justice, nonviolent direct action strategy, spiritual activism, and radical youth work. Passionate about creating transformative spaces for people to build social justice together, they work with collectives Navigate, Resist + Renew, Beautiful Trouble, Queer Tours Of London, and organise for migrant solidarity. In their spare time they cycle mountains, and hang out at punk gigs, Quaker meetings, and herbal medicine gardens.

Ed Webb-Ingall
Ed Webb-Ingall is a filmmaker and researcher working with archival materials and methodologies drawn from community video. He collaborates with groups to explore under-represented historical moments, developing modes of self-representation specific to the subject or participant's experiences. 

Direct! Action!: Protest and the Forest is part of The People's Forest season - a series of events exploring our relationship with Epping Forest, interrogating the deep bond we have with forests and woodland, and how this relationship is culturally determined.

Image credit: Ed Webb Ingall