Taiao Tarot, Imogen Malpas, 2024

What is your role in the climate crisis? Tarot cards have been used in Europe since the 1400s, initially as a card game, and in more recent years as a spiritual tool for personal growth and self-reflection. The Taiao Tarot (te reo Māori for Earth and Environment) is a tarot deck designed to help us explore the different roles we can play in navigating the climate crisis and strengthening our relationships with the natural world and each other.

The 22 Major Arcana cards in the Taiao Tarot depict a specific responsibility within a group adapting to the climate crisis. Each card, representing a different stage in our lives, invites us to consider the individual roles we might play when responding to the climate crisis within our communities. In contrast with the traditional tarot deck, the Taiao Tarot cards’ imagery and language centres on Black, indigenous and people of colour, and on non-gendered characters

The Taiao Tarot deck was designed by writer Imogen Malpas, in collaboration with a team of Guatemalan, Brazilian, Chilean, Congolese, Zambian, German, Irish & English artists. They are: Aislinn Finnegan, Daniela Jiménez, Laura Ferré Scotelari, Matheus Henrique Ribeiro, Olivia McEwan Hill, Lapoze Judaku, Ludi Leiva, Tatjana Junker, Gabriella Street

Imogen Malpas

Imogen (she/her) is an environmental journalist, interdisciplinary creative practitioner and medical student pursuing research at the intersection of health, sacred practice and biodiversity. She holds a BASc in neuroscience and literature from UCL, and a master’s with distinction in medical anthropology from Oxford University. Past work & collaborations include The Guardian, The Conversation, The Independent, TedX, Atmos, Earthed, The Lancet, BBC New Creatives and Latitude Festival. She has been a recipient of The New New Fellowship, the International Save The Night fund and the Sail Britain Creative Ecology residency. She is the founder of Club SOL, an award-winning, internationally exhibited collective based in London, that connects people and planet through creativity.