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‘The Twistmas Twee’ – Art to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable!
By Kemol King
The Twee stands proud on the Kingston Seawall.
Volunteers decorating the Twistmas Twee.
The first Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree was decorated with tin cans.
Volunteers pose in front of the Twistmas Twee .
Kaieteur News – Every year, we see the common Christmas Tree, the fake, the real, the white, gold and multicoloured. But how about a Christmas Tree made entirely out of sticks and pieces of garbage? Now that’s an unusual sight. And that’s exactly what you’ll find if you take a little trip down to the Kingston Seawalls in Georgetown.
The ‘Twistmas Twee’ is a makeshift Christmas Tree, fashioned and erected by volunteers on the seawall. The twee is made entirely of sticks and garbage picked up from the beach and the seawall, and is the brainchild of the local clean-up and activist group, Seawalls & Beyond.
“Made by 20 of our volunteers and set up on Friday [December 11] evening,” the group said on its Facebook page, “the 15-feet tall structure is made of re-used, re-purposed materials. Its main structure is made of driftwood and decorations from plastic bottles, food boxes, fried chicken boxes, pizza boxes, plastic spoons, snack bags, popsicle sticks, bottle caps, plastic cups and plates, fishing equipment, among other items that can be found littering the beach.”
What do you think of such a twee? Wouldn’t you rather a beautiful, more picturesque Christmas tree out on the Kingston seawall, instead of a contraption of sticks and trash? Many people would. Yet, they litter indiscriminately every day, leaving our waterways clogged, our streets littered with plastic bottles and food boxes, and trash washing up on our otherwise beautiful beaches. There would be no Twistmas Twee without litter.
It can be depressing to see. The Christmas Tree, in its origin, came out of a sad and depressing situation too. Christmas only became a federal holiday in the United States of America in June, 1870.
In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards and gift-giving. The newer customs were influenced by Catholic and Episcopalian Immigrants.
The tradition became infectious. Even in countries like Guyana, where there is no winter, the concept of Santa Claus “dashing through the snow on a one-horse open sleigh” has been romanticised by and for many children. So too did the tradition of the Christmas tree, because of America’s influence.
Today, the most iconic Christmas tree is the Rockefeller Christmas tree in New York City. Although the first official Rockefeller Christmas tree was erected in 1933, the first was lit in 1931. It was during a time of economic downturn in the United States of America called The Great Depression. Though they didn’t have much, construction workers decorated the first 20-foot tree with garlands, cranberries and tin cans, because they were not going to let The Great Depression stop them from celebrating the most wonderful time of the year.
So what sparked the idea among the volunteers of Seawalls & Beyond to build such an unusual structure?
“Our simple guideline in building the twee was to spend absolutely no money on its construction,” the group posted on its Facebook page. “Only found materials, items found on the beach or items no longer wanted were to be used. This is a contemporary work of art intended to provoke thoughts, conversations, discussions and debate on addressing our waste management and waste disposal culture, our (over)consumption patterns and other related environmental issues.”
“Cups were made to look like Santa suits, popsicle sticks like reindeer and stars, bottle caps like candy cane and elves, pizza boxes cut into shapes of gingerbread men and fishes, plates into flowers (and a tribute to Corona) – it’s not just trash but ‘upcycled’ decorations.”
“If you’re not bothered by litter and garbage on the streets (and accept ugliness as part of the landscape),” one volunteer is quoted as saying, “but at the same time you’re offended by a work of art in the ‘Twistmas Twee’, then the group has successfully made its point of how much twisted our culture has become. And that twisted culture is what needs fixing! After all, we know that art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable!”
Seawalls and Beyond was started in July this year to bring together nature lovers who are passionate about keeping the natural environment, particularly the oceans, clean and free of litter.
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