All Trees Are Political: Particularly at Christmas

Twenty-eight artists on what trees mean to us in the month we bring them indoors, opening in National Tree Week. About Every December we fell a young conifer, carry it into the house and hang lights on it, and most of us never ask why. All Trees Are Political: Particularly at Christmas, an exhibition of twenty-eight artists from the Arborealists and invited guests, curated by the Margate artist Philippa Beale, asks that question. It opens at the Schwartzman Gallery, The Margate School, on Tuesday 24 November 2026, inside National Tree Week, runs until Saturday 5 December, and moves to the Batsford Gallery on Hackney Road, London, from Friday 11 to Sunday 20 December. For thousands of years people have brought greenery indoors in the darkest months as a sign of life, renewal and protection: the Christmas tree, holly and ivy, Tu BiShvat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, and tulsi, the holy basil of Hindu homes. Beale's claim is that the instinct is older than any faith, and that a tree is never only a tree. The private view is on Friday 27 November, 6 to 8pm, and Beale gives a talk, Being with Trees: 45 exhibitions in 13 years, at 3pm on Saturday 28 November. Admission free. All works for sale, with prices from under £300. Register for the private view: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/all-trees-are-political-particularly-at-christmas-private-view-margate-tickets-2003768444357?aff=listings The artists: Georgina Allen, Robert Amesbury Brooks, Rosalind Archer, Suzanne Baker, Philippa Beale, John Blandy, Day Bowman, Frank Creber, Margy Creber, Louisa Crispin, Annabel Cullen, Alex Egan, Ferha Farooqui, Laura Gompertz, Julie Held, Joanna Hyslop, Charlie Kirkham, Claire Leach, Natasha Lien, Dawn Limbert, Anna Maconochie, Seema Manchanda, Sarah Medway, Hilary Rosen, Angela Rumble, Tom Shipman, Maria Storey, Sandra Wroe. Press and communications: Kei London Visual Art Agency. Read more Toggle Drawing Photography Prints Painting