THE FOUR METER HIGH FIR TREE, DECORATED WITH BEESWAX CANDLES, WILL BE ON DISPLAY IN THE GALLERY'S ROTUNDA UNTIL 23.DECEMBER. DEAN, AN ARTIST ORIGINALLY FROM CANTERBURY, KENT, BUT NOW LIVING IN BERLIN, WAS ASKED TO DESIGN THIS YEARS TATE BRITAIN HOLIDAY TREE. 'I WAS STRUCK WHEN I ARRIVED IN BERLIN BY THE SIMPLICITY OF CHRISTMAS THERE', SHE SAID. 'I FELT THE GERMANS HAD MANAGED TO HOLD ON TO SOMETHING OF ITS PURITY AND MAGIC DESPITE COMMERCIAL PRESSURES. THEY HAVE A GREAT TRADITION OF CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS AND ARE STILL UNAFRAID TO HAVE REAL CANDLES ON THEIR TREES.' THE CANDLES ON THE TREE, WHICH WERE HANDMADE IN GERMANY, WILL BE LIT AT 4pm EVERY DAY AND ARE DESIGNED TO BURN OUT AT 6pm AS THE GALLERY CLOSES. DEAN HAS ALSO DESIGNED THE GALLERY'S CHRISTMAS CARD THIS YEAR WHICH FEATURES A 19th CENTURY PHOTOGRAPH OF A TREE TAKEN IN PALESTINE. SHE SAID: 'THE PICTURE WAS FROM THE 1870s AND THE LACK OF CONFLICT BETWEEN THE PEOPLE SITTING UNDER THE TREE IMPRESSED ME. IT WAS A PERFECT IMAGE FOR A CHRISTMAS CARDS WELL BECAUSE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PALESTINE AND CHRISTMAS. DEAN, WHO STUDIED AT FALMOUTH SCHOOL OF ART AND THE SLADE SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS, WAS NOMINATED FOR THE TURNER PRIZE IN 1998. THE TATE HAS INVITED AN ARTIST TO DESIGN AND DECORATE A TREE EVERY CHRISTMAS FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS
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