What is Tree Dressing?

It’s a term used to describe the international tradition of decorating trees. Tree Dressing exists in many cultures throughout the world and is called many different things. One thing they all have in common is that the focus of the activity is a tree or two.

According to Common Ground who coined the term, “The purpose of Tree Dressing Day is to raise awareness of the cultural and environmental importance of trees in our streets, parks, playgrounds. We hope that Tree Dressing Day will encourage people to overtly celebrate the trees in their localities by communally decorating them from the first weekend in December to the Twelfth Night.”

Common Ground started this campaign in 1990 and now about a thousand trees are dressed annually in Britain alongside many others in the rest of the world.

Tree Dressing is a deceptively simple idea. Find a tree that is significant to the local area, gather the local people and begin. Start by finding out all you can from anyone who can tell you anything about the tree.

This can cover many areas of knowledge from the science (What type of tree is it? What is its rootspan?) leading to the history of the place (How old is the tree? What has it witnessed?). The memories of a place are wrapped up in a tree.
Its perspective as a silent witness can be a great starting point for community research and sharing.

Tree Dressing includes all art forms. Visual adornment to the tree and the ground, poetry, music, dance, storytelling all have a part to play and a suitable platform in the tree dressing opening event.

There is no limit to number of groups that can be involved and in what way they are involved. Tree Dressing can be very simple: tying hundreds of little red ribbons to branches, or creating a cloth spiral at the base of a tree to draw people closer.

Tree Dressing works well with other ideas.

In 1998, Brisbane Independent School celebrated its 30th anniversary and as part of the celebrations I worked with the students on a Tree Dressing. The tree was centrally important to the school, everyone had climbed it, looked down from it, played beneath it, and probably some had fallen from it too.

The students wrote Haiku with the Japanese exchange teacher and painted these onto banners which festooned the tree. They made lanterns and at the night-time opening event the students emerged from the darkness in procession, lanterns lit and singing.

As the lanterns were hung on the lower branches, the Haiku was read, and the tree glowed with acknowledgement.

In 1996, Tree Dressing Day coincided with World AIDS Day, so our local project used the WAD theme for that year, which was ‘One World, One Hope’ to work with school children on compassion for trees and people.

The tree was in a highly visible location and we felt that it gave many people something to think about on their way home. The duration of the making process gave the students time to reflect on some complex ideas.

Tree Dressing is essentially a “tread lightly” ephemeral installation.

All the art work is designed to be gentle on the tree. For example bindings are cloth not wire that could chafe the branches. If glue is needed, flour and water will suffice. Participants increase their awareness of the physical needs of a tree. And in caring for that tree they regain the connection with the environment, the importance of trees to life.

Paying homage to the tree gives us a chance to see where we and the tree fit into the scheme of things.

For further information contact:
Tamara Playne, 07 3393 3635 or 0413 931 870 or email me at tamaraplayne@yahoo.com.au