Imagine the Land Project - Our Story

Imagine the Land Project is exhibiting in Rome at the Museum of Contemporary Art MACRO ASILO Curatorial Project!

Our newest project, Tocca La Terra, is comprised of Italian local soils, hand-gathered from the landscapes surrounding Rome and regional Italy. These soils are being ground into fine pigments and transformed into a 15m long art installation, filling one of the MACRO exhibition halls.


Throughout the exhibition, we are initiating collaboratively driven processes inviting the public to collaborate. Participants are engaged in the exciting opportunity for direct tactile, sensory and conceptual response to notions of nature, impermanence and interconnectedness in the creation of the artwork.

Imagine the Land Project is a collaboration between Karma Barnes (NZ/Australia) & Ekarasa Doblanovic (Croatia/NZ). For more than 10 years, we have worked with thousands of people of all ages in producing collaborative, ecological artworks through socially and environmentally engaged art programs. This body of participatory work has captivated peoples’ connection with nature and creativity -- and has led to our invitation to Rome. Partaking in MACRO ASILO Curatorial Project furthers to develop new forms of creative inclusion and process-driven practice, locating new values and meaning on an international stage.

Our work in Rome, Tocca La Terra is building upon our methodology of community engagement and connection to local place within a global environment. Our collaborative effort explores local stories and collective ontologies of the earth that we walk upon, fostering compassionate relationships between participants and the environment that nourishes and sustains us all.

Support the project by choosing one of the following art prints

Scroll through the options of the right to select the image and size of your choice.

 T O C C A   L A   T E R R A - MACRO ASILO Rome

High-Quality Archival Art Print Printed on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper

Choose from the rewards   A5-$35 A4-$75 A3-$130  

Support the project, be part of the magic and choose a print of the monumental TOCCA LA TERRA large-scale art installation that we are producing at The Rome Museum of Contemporary Arts from Italian soils and pigments! Please note image provided is a work in progress shot, the print will be of the compleated installation.

M E T A M O R P H O S I S

High-Quality Archival Art Print Printed on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper

Choose from the rewards   A5-$35 A4-$75 A3-$130   

Made from Metamorphic and Igneous materials from the regions volcanic terrain of the Glass House Mountains area Metamorphosis explores the inner terrains of the mind and our hidden monsters while celebrating the strength of the heart that underlies and ultimately underpins all. The work then drew visual references to the group of eleven Glass House Mountains that rise abruptly from the coastal plain on the Sunshine Coast,      These landscapes formed from the pressure and heat of the lava 31 million years ago. The installation was constructed by hundreds of participants over the 6-day duration of the Woodford Folk Festival.

Scroll through the options of the right to select the image and size of your choice.

E A R T H   R H Y T H M S
High-Quality Archival Art Print Printed on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper 

Choose from the rewards   A5-$35 A4-$75 A3-$130   

EARTH RHYTHMS – A vibrant, electric tapestry created from soils, sands and clays from throughout New Zealand. Created over 5 days with 500 children at The Wallace Art Gallery in Morrinsville. The imagination of the region's youth was ignited by the experience of this collaboration, generating a sense of pride, connection and place. EARTH RHYTHMS was a collaboration with Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto and The Third Paradise, International Worldwide Day of Change, a global collaborative action to celebrate positive environmental and social rebirth. The work was then featured at the Year One – Paradise on Earth exhibition presented at the Louvre, Paris.

Scroll through the options of the right to select the image and size of your choice.

C H I L D   P R O T E C T I O N   C O M M U N I T Y   C O L L A B

High-Quality Archival Art Print Printed on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper 

Choose from the rewards   A5-$35  A4-$75  A3-$130  

Created in the heart of the Northern Rivers NSW region, this monumental public art installation project was produced by hundreds of community members to mark the launch of National Child Protection Week 2016. Made in the Lismore townships cental roundabout from truckloads of soils gathered from across the Northern Rivers region, the artwork celebrates a safe vessel in our community to support our kids.

Scroll through the options of the right to select the image and size of your choice.

W H A T   L I E S   B E N E A T H

High-Quality Archival Art Print Printed on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper   

Choose from the rewards   A5-$35 A4-$75 A3-$130  

What Lies Beneath // Imagine the Land Lopdell House, West Auckland Regional Gallery Auckland, New Zealand, 2013 The work explores the ecology of the life forms that dwell on the ocean floor and the current environmental threats of deep sea bed mining. Produced from soils, sands, and minerals from the Waitakere Ranges and the coastal iconic black sands, which carry a story of a journey from conception through the force of the sacred volcanic cone of Mt. Taranaki, which over the millennia eroded down the rivers to the ocean. The iron-rich sands have travelled over thousands of years up the west coast via deep slow oceanic currents. Throughout the oceanic floor live the benthic community of living organisms that make up an integral part of the ocean’s food web. The work artistically maps the potential impact upon this fragile Eco-system that the deep-sea mining and drilling of our iconic black sands would have upon the ecosystem beneath while considering our responsibilities as custodians of home, land, and sea.

Scroll through the options of the right to select the image and size of your choice.

W H A N U I

High-Quality Archival Art Print Printed on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper   

Choose from the rewards   A5-$35 A4-$75  A3-$130   

Produced for Auckland Arts Festival WHANUI was made from New Lynn clay pigments and 233 clay bowls by students from Lynfield College and seniors from the neighbourhood. Through the making process stories, memories and perspectives were shared across the generations. The bowls physically represent these interactions and are components of a large floor-based art installation. The work has since been exhibited in The Venice Arte Laguna Prize this year and is now held in their permanent collection.

Scroll through the options of the right to select the image and size of your choice.

Support the project by choosing a set of Imagine the Land postcards

Post Card sets $20

THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ART, PEOPLE & THE ENVIRONMENT

Over the last 10 years, Imagine the Land Project has worked in collaboration with close to 10,000 people to cultivate creative and positive expressions of cooperation and compassion for our environment.  These engagements foster tangible experiences of teamwork, connection and intersubjectivity. This is the potent power of art, that so beautifully draws people together, mapping their connection to each other and the land. To view more of our work, visit www.imaginetheland.com

Whanui - Venice Arte Laguna Prize, Venice, 2019

Kinship Festival Community Collaboration -Murwillumbah, Australia, 2019

In This House, Áine Tyrrell Music Video, Byron Bay, Australia, 2018

Whanui - New Lynn, Auckland, NZ 2018

Kinship Festival, Community Collaboration - Murwillumbah, Australia 2018

Child Protection Community Collaboration, YWCA-Lismore, Australia, 2017

NAIDCOC DAY Community Collab- Byron Bay, Australia, 2017

One One- Te Uru Gallery, Auckland, NZ, 2016

Maati Ma- Festival of Soil, Bhoomi Festival- Navdanya Foundation, New Delhi, India, 2015

Metamorphosis // Woodford Folk Festival, Queensland, Australia 2013

What Lies Beneath, Te Uru Gallery- Auckland, NZ, 2014

La Rosa Park Day LIghting Project - Auckland City Council & Wai Care Auckland, NZ, 2013

Earth Rhythms & Third Paradise - The Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville,  NZ, 2012

Yarrabah - Rare Earth Foundation, Yarrabah Community, Australia, 2012.

Kaipara Rhythms - Kaipara Sculpture Gardens, Auckland, NZ, 2012

Sacra Tierra - TINA Arts Festival, Newcastle, Australia, 2010

Mas Alla De Las Palabras, Sonando Con El Deierto.- Beyond Words, Dreams In The Desert- Colombia 2010

We really appreciate your support!

As my mentor once said – being an artist is a very expensive job! So to help fund our project and expenses for exhibiting our work in Rome, we are offering you the opportunity to purchase a beautiful artwork from our selection of Imagine the Land Projects. This awesome exhibition opportunity comes with no financial support, so purchasing a print or making a donation will mean the world to us and help cover some of our expenses and make the exhibition all the more amazing!

Here is how we are going to use the funds raised to support some of the expenses of the exhibition:
Soil and Sand Collecting - Vehicle hire and storage fees for gathering soils and pigments from regional areas outside of Rome $765
Project Documentation - Photographer fees $650
Exhibition Resources & materials - $635
Producing prints for the fundraiser - $800
Pozible fees - $150