The tree in your living room is a political object. Twenty-eight artists explain why.
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.
Philippa Beale says: "We bring trees indoors in the darkest month because something in us needs them close. That instinct is older than any of our religions and shared by all of them. Twenty-eight artists have each followed it somewhere I did not expect."
The Arborealists were founded in 2013 by Tim Craven. Their 2024 exhibition at the Batsford Gallery launched Forests, Woods and Groves (Batsford), written by Beale and longlisted for the 2025 Wainwright Prize for Illustrative Books. The exhibition image is Annabel Cullen's lithograph Remnant, Oaks Park (1).
Admission is free and every work is for sale. Two books and a catalogue are on sale at both venues: Forests, Woods and Groves: Art from the Arborealists by Philippa Beale (Batsford, 2024); Art Meets Ecology: Arborealists in Lady Park Wood by George Peterken with Tim Craven and Christiana Payne (Sansom and Company, 2020); and The Arborealists at Staverton Park, Tim Craven's catalogue.
Visiting
Schwartzman Gallery, The Margate School, 31 to 33 High Street, Margate CT9 1DX Tuesday 24 November to Saturday 5 December 2026 Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm Private view: Friday 27 November, 6 to 8pm Talk: Being with Trees: 45 exhibitions in 13 years, by Philippa Beale, Saturday 28 November, 3pm
The Batsford Gallery, 266 Hackney Road, London E2 7SJ Friday 11 to Sunday 20 December 2026 Open Friday to Sunday, 12 noon to 4pm Private view: Saturday 12 December, 2 to 4pm Talk: Being with Trees, by Philippa Beale, Saturday 19 December, 3pm
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
Press and communications: Kei London Visual Art Agency. Press release, high resolution images and interviews: Arash Shahnavaz, press@keilondon.com, +44 7498 217170.