CALL FOR ART – TREES

[Lars Schumacher]

Trees in Art – Symbolism and Sustainability - Trees as Memory, Myth, and Future.  

Trees are more than living organisms. They hold stories. They carry myths. They offer shelter, reflection, and inspiration. They remind us of change and resilience, of deep roots and fragile ecosystems.

This international exhibition project invites artists and writers to rediscover the tree as a creative partner — as symbol, metaphor, and a spark for sustainable thinking and poetic imagination.

Invitation to Participate

We welcome visual and literary works dedicated to a single type of tree.

Choose one tree from a list rich in cultural, poetic, and mythological meaning — from Goethe’s ginkgo to Shakespeare’s mulberry, from the oak of the Minnesingers to the Joshua Tree.

Your contribution should be:

• Portrait format (2:3 ratio)

• 300 dpi resolution

• Any medium: painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, photography, digital art, poetry, or experimental forms

Examples of Tree Choices

Ginkgo (Goethe) Linden (folk songs, Müller) Walnut (Hikmet) Willow (Heine) Oak (Hölderlin) Cedar (U2) Tree of Life (Hesse) Redwood / Sequoia (R.E.M., Van Morrison) Chestnut (Gryphius, Eichendorff, Nick Drake) Magnolia (Bachmann, Billie Holiday, Tom Petty, Brittany Howard) Fir / Christmas Tree (Andersen, tradition) Mulberry (Shakespeare) Joshua Tree (U2) 

This diversity invites personal, poetic, ecological, political, or experimental perspectives.

Documentation

The exhibitions will be accompanied by press releases and social media features. This is not a commercial sales show. After the exhibitions, all works will remain with the organizer and be archived — forming a growing, living memory of the project.

Participation Terms

By participating, artists agree that:

• Their work may be published in the context of the exhibitions and documentation (print, online, press, social media).

• The organizer receives the rights to publish the work within this project.

• The submitted work remains permanently with the organizer and will be archived.

• Participation is free of charge.

Organization

Submission deadline: July 31, 2026

Organizer: Lars Schumacher

Email: larsschumacher [at] okok .de

Exhibition Venues

Berlin — in cooperation with Friends of KUNSTdemokratie for interactive cultural processes e.V.  

Hannover / Burgdorf — with the Media House for Art and Culture e.V. In winter 2026, the project will be presented across two physical locations:

Open Tiny (Berlin‑Neukölln)

A former neighborhood kiosk transformed into a micro‑gallery and social meeting point.

Informal, accessible, rooted in DIY culture — ideal for small‑scale exhibitions, participatory formats, and experimental presentations.

Kunstraum Mitte 37 (Hannover / Burgdorf)

An emerging independent art space dedicated to contemporary art, Mail Art, Fluxus‑inspired practices, and community‑focused cultural exchange. Works can be shown both traditionally on the walls and in alternative, process‑oriented arrangements throughout the rooms. Each venue offers wall space for approximately 37 A4‑sized artworks, with additional possibilities for creative spatial installations using tables, shelves, windows, suspended elements, or site‑responsive interventions.

A Personal Invitation

As part of your participation, we warmly encourage you to plant or sow something yourself — a seed, a tree, a small gesture of growth.

Let your artistic contribution be accompanied by a living act of care.

All seed‑ and plant‑related experiences will be documented in the list of www.larsschumacher.art