{"id":3107,"date":"2021-06-30T12:30:14","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T11:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/?p=3107"},"modified":"2021-07-05T13:34:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T12:34:15","slug":"ben-okris-painttheland-launch-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/ben-okris-painttheland-launch-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"<span>Ben Okri&#8217;s #PaintTheLand launch speech<\/span><span>Ben Okri <\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Booker prize-winning novelist, poet and activist Ben Okri made a moving speech at Writers Rebel\u2019s Paint the Land launch 25.06.21. Within his speech, Okri reminds us that love is the only thing that stands between us and extinction.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TWHKlp88qZk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Okri\u2019s message \u201cCan\u2019t you hear the future weeping? Our love must save the world\u201d was displayed on a living grass banner and floated on the Thames at Bankside Beach on Friday 25<sup>th<\/sup> June 2021.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3111\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3111\" style=\"width: 645px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3111\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_8851-2.jpg?resize=640%2C427\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_8851-2-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_8851-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_8851-2-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_8851-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_8851-2-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_8851-2-scaled.jpg?w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_8851-2-scaled.jpg?w=1920 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3111\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: XR SE Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This marked the beginning of our Paint the Land project. In the lead up to COP-26, Writers Rebel is collaborating with leading artists and writers to create landscape graffitos that urge world leaders to ACT NOW in the face of climate catastrophe.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Call to Action:<\/strong> We are encouraging groups across the world to do the same. For information on how to paint the land click <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1GDJaVfdsMe-jkih78YcVJeHa2_xGD5WZDgv466LU1hA\/edit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ben Okri<\/strong>\u00a0is a poet, novelist, essayist, short story writer, anthologist, aphorist, and playwright. He has also written film scripts. His works have won numerous national and international prizes, including the Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel <em>The Famished Road<\/em>. His website is <a href=\"https:\/\/benokri.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/benokri.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Booker prize-winning novelist, poet and activist Ben Okri made a moving speech at Writers Rebel\u2019s Paint the Land launch 25.06.21. Within his speech, Okri reminds us that love is the only thing that stands between us and extinction.\u00a0 Okri\u2019s message \u201cCan\u2019t you hear the future weeping? Our love must save the world\u201d was displayed on [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/ben-okris-painttheland-launch-speech\/\">Read More&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> from <span>Ben Okri&#8217;s #PaintTheLand launch speech<\/span><span>Ben Okri <\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":3160,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[471,477,346,15,470,57],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ben Okri&#039;s #PaintTheLand launch speech - Writers Rebel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/ben-okris-painttheland-launch-speech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ben Okri&#039;s #PaintTheLand launch speech - Writers Rebel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Booker prize-winning novelist, poet and activist Ben Okri made a moving speech at Writers Rebel\u2019s Paint the Land launch 25.06.21. 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