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 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 Trigger, 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