The Institute and Brighton Fringe started their collaboration with the ‘Treecycle’ installation

The 16ft tall Christmas Tree was decorated by Ilona Valkonen, a member of the Finnish ‘anarchist florist’ art group Vieno Motors. The tree will stand on the North grounds of St Peter’s Church until early January. Ilona has created the installation combining organic and man-made media, drawing attention to the value of discarded materials, such as electrical wires and bicycle tyres, by re-purposing them as Christmas decorations alongside live, flowering bulbs. The delicacy of the flowers combined with the rawness of the recycled material helps the viewer find aesthetic value in material usually thrown away. The installation of ‘Treecycle’ has been a collaborative effort between Brighton Fringe, The Finnish Institute in London, and a number of Brighton-based organisations; St Peter’s Church, Brighton & Hove Council, Brighton Metropolitan College, Phoenix Brighton and The Finnish School of Brighton. The colourful mix of recycled material was provided by Reuse Manager and recycling genius Cat Fletcher, who has saved them from going to landfill sites in various parts of the city. Treecycle marks the start of a collaboration between Brighton Fringe and The Finnish Institute in London. Brighton Fringe is one of the world’s largest Fringe festivals, and the Institute will take part in creating a Finnish season at Brighton Fringe 2018.

Julian Caddy from Brighton Fringe and the artist Ilona Valkonen celebrated the unveiling of Treecycle on 17 November. Photo: Sara Forsius

Julian Caddy, Managing Director of Brighton Fringe said, “Finland, just like Brighton Fringe, has a reputation for doing things from a refreshingly different perspective, there is more to things than meets the eye.  This tree, whilst inspiring festive joy, also has an important message too and we would like to thank Ilona Valkonen, the Finnish Institute and all our other partners for this project for their time to put this all together.  This project heralds the start of our partnership with Finland for 2018 and we just can’t wait.” A festive celebration marking the centenary of Finnish independence will be held around the decorated tree on the 6^th of December. There will be a group singing Christmas carols at the event, Finnish cakes and non-alcoholic Glöggi to keep everyone warm, and an appearance from Santa, all the way from Lapland in Finland. The Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Mo Marsh, will also be attending and making a speech. Find more information about the event here. Learn more about the Brighton Fringe Finnish season at seasons.brightonfringe.org. Theme photo: Sara Forsius