"They do not take the title of angels, being by nature bashful and unassuming, they go by other names - firefly, bee, ant, caddisfly - I wish that everyone who said they believed in angels would actually believe in insects."

Jay Griffiths, author of Why Rebel

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Almost Invisible Angels, is the latest in a series of collaborative artworks curated by Writers Rebel. The Paint the Land team link high-profile writers, with well-loved and emerging visual artists, to create rural and urban landscape graffiti with a powerful message, in response to the climate and ecological emergency.

 

We are honouring the beauty of our Earth and lamenting the state we are in.

 

Our short film based on Jay Griffiths’ words and vision, is narrated by Sir Mark Rylance and accompanied by a haunting, original score by Anna Phoebe and Sam Lee. The words that I spelled out in branches, like bones, were the centrepiece of the film and later placed as an installation in the nave of Tintern Abbey as part of the Wye Valley River Festival, 2022

 

Almost invisible Angelshas been released in June 2022 to coincide with Insect Week, an initiative run by the Royal Entomological Society and partner organisations, like Buglife, Butterfly Conservation and the Amateur Entomological Society, to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to learn and care more about insects. 

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Pollution, monocultures, climate change and insecticides have brought invertebrate populations to an unprecedented low in most countries in the world. In Britain, climate disruption and intensive farming have caused a 60% decline in flying insects in just 20 years, and a global report in the journal Biological Conservation says a quarter of insects could be wiped out within just a decade.

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YES! BUT WHAT CAN I DO???

Make your local places bug friendly - keep a messy, wildlife friendly garden or even a window box, and don't use insecticides. Shop for food, clothes and other products with insects in mind, and start noticing and appreciating these incredible creatures more. Treat insects like your life depends on them, because it does!

Take part in Buglife's 'Bugs Matter' survey and read Vicki Hird's top-tips on Rebugging the Planet. Find more campaign and literary resources at the bottom of the official Almost Invisible Angels page.

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“I’ve campaigned and protested about environmental destruction since I was a teenager, and I continue to fight now for the future of my children, and for those of all species on our precious Earth. Societies, such as ours in the UK, have become dangerously divorced from nature, and forgetting this crucial interdependence threatens our very existence. I hope that Almost Invisible Angels will help to open hearts and minds, and encourage others to urgently demand radical, regenerative change from those in power, for all our sakes." Gaby Solly