‘Clarion the Bear’ and Climate Activists Complete 306-Mile Walk to Glasgow

A towering paper ‘polar bear’ named Clarion arrived in central Glasgow on November 1 after climate activists marched it 306 miles north, from Shropshire to Scotland, in time for a demonstrate during the launch of the United Nations’ COP26 summit. Artist Bamber Hawes and fellow activists transporting the 10-foot-tall paper bear, which was reinforced with bamboo poles, departed Shropshire on October 10 on what they dubbed a “Climate Pilgrimage” to the summit in Glasgow. On the Clarion the Bear website, Hawes wrote that he did not believe that “carrying a sculpture of a polar bear” was going to “save the world,” nor did he expect any of the powerful attendees at COP26 to be aware of the journey they had undertaken. He hoped, however, to encourage more physical group demonstrations for people feeling isolated by pandemic restrictions. “Perhaps this penance-like pilgrimage is not going to change to the world, but I think it will change those who take part. These days it is not often that we take part in tasks together,” Hawes wrote. Credit: Kusameh Hewaomara/Clarion the Bear via Storyful

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November 02, 2021 at 12:26AM
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A towering paper ‘polar bear’ named Clarion arrived in central Glasgow on November 1 after climate activists marched it 306 miles north, from Shropshire to Scotland, in time for a demonstrate during the launch of the United Nations’ COP26 summit. Artist Bamber Hawes and fellow activists transporting the 10-foot-tall paper bear, which was reinforced with bamboo poles, departed Shropshire on October 10 on what they dubbed a “Climate Pilgrimage” to the summit in Glasgow. On the Clarion the Bear website, Hawes wrote that he did not believe that “carrying a sculpture of a polar bear” was going to “save the world,” nor did he expect any of the powerful attendees at COP26 to be aware of the journey they had undertaken. He hoped, however, to encourage more physical group demonstrations for people feeling isolated by pandemic restrictions. “Perhaps this penance-like pilgrimage is not going to change to the world, but I think it will change those who take part. These days it is not often that we take part in tasks together,” Hawes wrote. Credit: Kusameh Hewaomara/Clarion the Bear via Storyful