Unveiled at Glastonbury Festival 2025 in the heart of Shangri-La, the iconic PoliNations trees returned in a striking new form — as a shrine to love, loss and land, anchoring this year’s theme: The Wilding.

Originally commissioned as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, the towering 40-foot sculptures first transformed Birmingham’s Victoria Square in 2022 as part of PoliNations, a vast forest garden that celebrated biodiversity, cultural identity, and the beauty of difference. In 2025, these monumental tree structures were reimagined by the team at TRIGGER as the centrepiece of Shangri-La’s main stage area, reclaiming their role in shaping powerful public spaces.

Crafted from repurposed materials and designed in collaboration with leading creatives including Carl Robertshaw, Bronia Housman & Format Engineers, the PoliNations Trees are both sculpture and symbol: living monuments to resilience, imagination, and collective storytelling.

Set within the politically charged landscape of Shangri-La, the Trees came alive once more, not just as an installation but as a call to connection. A gathering point. A site of memory, hope, beauty and rage, echoing Trigger’s belief in the power of art to transform public space and shared experience.

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS:
Giulia Spadafora