Finsbury Park is a public park located in the northeast of London, on the top of a hill from which visitors can enjoy a nice view of the city. Next to the park, there is Park Studios Artists Co-operative where 25 artists create their works.
Mr. Hans Diemel and Be van der Heide, (one of the artists), applied for the tree planting after seeing the Kaki Tree Project exhibit at Venice Biennial held in 1999. In order to realize the project, Hans phoned dozens of schools and visited 5 schools. Finally, he encountered Stroud Green Primary School and the project was realized after waiting for one year. Stroud Green Primary School is a state school where anyone from any race can attend. A very appropriate school for the Kaki Tree Project. The staff members also showed their understanding and through the workshops conducted at the school prior to the tree planting, children deepened their understanding of the project.
The workshops were conducted for a period of 2 days, on the 6th and 7th of March prior to the tree planting ceremony. Be Van Der Heide, an artist and wife of Mr. Hans Diemel, planned the workshops. With and led by 5, 6 artists based in the Park Studios, which is located near the school, the large-scale workshop involving 450 pupils from all grades of the school was conducted. All the pupils created message cards for the day of the tree planting ceremony, they marched from the school carrying their messages and buried them under the tree.
The ceremony was attended by about 100 pupils from the school, ages from 5 to 10, and their parents. The weather on the day of the ceremony was fine and the mayor of the London Council of Haringey was also present to give a speech to celebrate the occasion.
