Favourite Fucking Tree
This summer, we are inviting people around the world to share the story of a tree that has shaped their life. Throughout the coming weeks, CIRCA and Ai Weiwei will reshare a selection of our favourite submissions across our social channels, creating a living archive of personal histories rooted in trees from around the world. To mark the closing day of A Tree on 9 September 2026, nine participants will each receive a complimentary signed copy of Ai Weiwei’s new limited edition print.
The project takes its inspiration from Weiwei’s latest CIRCA commission. A few days before his exhibition at Factory International opened, news broke that the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, believed to be approximately 1,200 years old, had been declared dead. On the Summer Solstice, Weiwei travelled to the Sherwood Forest, where he sat beneath its branches and made his first drawing in fifty years. That drawing became A Tree, a meditation on time, memory, loss and our enduring relationship with the natural world.
As another summer is marked by record temperatures, devastating wildfires and disappearing landscapes, #FavouriteFuckingTree simply asks ‘which tree matters most to you?’. Not because it is famous or extraordinary, but because it has become part of your own life story. Perhaps it stood outside your childhood home, offered shade on the hottest day, witnessed a first kiss, or became a place of refuge, remembrance or return. Long before trees become monuments, they become companions. We invite you to share the story of yours.
Share a photograph, drawing or video of your favourite tree as an Instagram grid post, accompanied by a short reflection explaining why it matters to you.
Tag @circa.art and @aiww, and include the hashtag #FavouriteFuckingTree. CIRCA and Ai Weiwei will reshare a selection of our favourite submissions across our social channels, celebrating the extraordinary stories behind trees from around the world.
On 9 September 2026, the closing day of A Tree, nine participants selected by Ai Weiwei will each receive a complimentary signed copy of Ai Weiwei’s limited edition print, A Tree. Chosen in honour of the number nine, which in Chinese culture symbolises longevity and endurance, the recipients will be announced across CIRCA’s channels.