Heinz art installation depicts a world without soil

Food company Heinz has unveiled an immersive art installation campaign to draw attention to soil degradation worldwide.

Art has the power to shape culture and it is often reflected the natural world back to us. For generations artists have produced masterpieces that contain luscious landscapes and delicious food. From Constable, to Monet, to Van Gogh. Fields and food are two of arts’ favourite subjects. But there is one resource featured in all of these paintings that has not got the recognition it deserves. Soil.

The fact is, soil matters, and it is running out. Worldwide, 40 per cent of land is degraded (UN, 2022). Why should we care? Because without healthy soil, we wouldn’t have 95 per cent (FAO, 2015) of the delicious food we eat. And we wouldn’t have Heinz tomato ketchup. Unthinkable.

Taking care of soil should be something that is at the top of our agenda, but it is hard to make people care for something that has been treated like dirt for so long. So Heinz launched 'Picture a World Without Soil', a partnership between Heinz, The Thyssen Museum and Van Gogh to help the world picture a world without it.

The campaign was created by Revolt, a purpose consultancy based in London who are specialists in delivering impact-driven creative work. Revolt has been working with Heinz on their sustainability platform rooted in agriculture and their associated commitments over the past 18 months.

Taking place over three days, and coinciding with the tomato harvest in Spain, the immersive installation invited visitors to step into the future and witness Vincent van Gogh’s Les Vessenots in Auvers like never seen before: presenting a version of his iconic landscape, had it been painted 50 years from now.

Visitors were taken on a guided journey through the activation, starting in the year 2074, where they experienced the harsh reality of a world without soil, as illustrated by cracked, dry ground that is devoid of fertility – a stark contrast from the original painting, which is renowned for its broad expanse of thriving crops.

From here, they headed to the present day, and were confronted with an equally distorted picture of impoverished soil, a lack of vegetation and noticeable lack of hedgerows, mirroring the global rate of soil health decline which currently affects half of humanity (UN 2022).

The tour ended with the original masterpiece, conveying a message of hope, characterised by abundant vegetation, the presence of water, and Van Gogh’s original vibrant, fertile colours.

'Picture a world without soil’ is one of several soil initiatives launched by Heinz and forms part of the brand’s wider ambition to protect good food for generations to come.