Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Change ). It was the most isolated tree on Earth: not a single other tree could be seen for 250 miles. What it couldn’t survive, however, was a careless truck driver who somehow managed to hit the only obstacle in a 800 km (500 mile) stretch of wasteland. It used to be one of the strongest symbols of life, a lonely tree, finding a way to flourish in the most difficult environment. The neolithic revolution where humanity started to domesticate plants and animals and form settlements happened around 12000 years a go with larger settlements forming around 5500 years a go. Known in English as the Tree of Ténéré, she stood as a solitary reminder of strength and individuality. As always, feel free to drop a comment below. In his book L'épopée du Ténéré, French ethnologist and explorer Henri Lhote described his two journeys to the Tree of Ténéré. I have never heard of this tree before. After all the Earth’s biosphere is a vast and highly complex inter-dependent open system. Nevertheless, the tree has nice green leaves, and some yellow flowers". Each year of a tree's life, it produces a new annual ring in the trunk. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. @TreeofTenere2017 They brought the Tree of Ténéré back to life at Burning Man 2017. Tree of Ténéré Animation Engine, based upon the LX framework. During the winter of 1938–1939 a well was dug near the tree and it was found that the roots of the tree reached the water table 33–36 meters (108 to 118 feet) below the surface. The Tree of Ténéré in 1961 – photo credit Michel Mazeau. A sacred symbol of life in the desert. The Acacia has become a living lighthouse; it is the first or the last landmark for the azalai leaving Agadez for Bilma, or returning.[4]. For hundreds of years, the Tree of Ténéré in the Sahara Desert was considered the world’s most isolated tree and was revered as sacred. . Yet somehow, even with all that open space, in 1973, a drunken truck driver hit and killed the tree. The Tree of Ténéré’s first run in with automobiles came some time in the 1940s, when a careless driver somehow smashed into it with his trunk, knocking down one of its two brittle trunks. The Tree of Ténéré was, for decades, the most isolated tree on Earth. A beautiful story that ends in human calamity – the term ‘doh!’ comes to mind, although perhaps that doesn’t quite capture the scale of the tragedy. And yet, the tree became an important ceremonial gathering place for traders and travelers as they crossed the desert. DRIFT explores new ways of connecting people to each other and earth, by using innovative technology. A year after the tree’s demise, the Republic of Niger released a commemorative stamp with a photo of the legendary tree. It … The tree’s remains were taken to the Niger National Museum in Niamey later that year, and a tribute was built in the tree’s place. Juhyo – The arboreal snow monsters that invade Japan every Winter, Voting now open in the European Tree of the Year 2019, The 9/11 Survivor Tree – The history of memorial trees and groves, Acebuches de El Rocio – Much more than ‘just’ wild olive trees. The driver then hacked the tree off at the stump, likely in an effort to hide what he had done. In 2017, Symmetry Labs created a massive, 4-story tall LED sculpture entitled "Tree of Tenere" that was showcased at Burning Man. Virtually all local maps featured the tree, since it was one of the only notable features of the landscape. Ténéré is a 40-foot tall custom LED tree, the first ever of its kind. The sculpture marks the spot where a real tree … He visited it again 25 years later, on 26 November 1959 with the Berliet-Ténéré mission, but found that it had been badly damaged after a vehicle had collided with it: Before, this tree was green and with flowers; now it is a colourless thorn tree and naked. A simple metal sculpture representing the tree stands where the tree once was. It brought people together for community, ritual and rest. I have Tenere loaded in LXstudio and just had a couple questions. THE TREE OF TÉNÉRÉ IS REPRESENTED BY PACE GALLERY An ancient story tells us that the isolated Tree of Ténéré, only to be found in the Sahara desert, had a ceremonial function to bring people together for ritual and rest. Now I feel unspeakably sad at the mindlessness of man. An open-source environment for the development of real-time 3D light animation with support for a variety of control and modulation systems. I suspect that it was the long term use of destructive agriculture and overgrazing of domestic cattle that destroyed the soil. The Tree of Ténéré was the last of a group of trees that grew when the desert was less parched than it is today. When the commander of the Allied Military Mission, Michel Lesourd, saw the tree in 1939, he was astonished that anything could live in such conditions. The acacia was the only tree for 250 miles in Niger’s Sahara desert, and … As they drilled deeper and deeper to find a source of life saving water, they discovered how the tree had managed to survive for so many centuries – its roots crept 35 meters (110 ft) beneath the surface and into the underground source of water. share. This is "The Tree of Ténéré" by Symmetry Labs on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. In 2018, the tree's story has appeared as a main theme in the official music video of 'Transmission/Michaelion'[7] by Ibeyi. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The only real mystery left in the story is how in the world two separate drivers managed to hit the only living thing for hundreds of miles. How can it still be living in spite of the multitudes of camels which trample at its sides. Gotta love this one. I wish there were more records from local people at the time, but I wasn’t able to find any… In any case, not all stories have happy endings! His first visit was in 1934 on the occasion of the first automobile crossing between Djanet and Agadez. Same for the Burmis Tree in Alberta, Canada. It looks more like an antenna than a tree, but at least it’s something. Most of its time as a lush forest was during the neolithic era (check out ‘Green Sahara’), but there is some information about Tenerians who lived there at the time. Want more tree stories? Kaushik Patowary Apr 1, 2012 25 comments. How sad! The bigger mystery of the tree is how a once lush green forest disappeared and turned into a desert wasteland. Out / Change ), you are commenting using your WordPress.com account fictional trees and worlds as... 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