Kiwiland, New Zealand from Italian artist!

A visual journey through identity, nature and imagination

“There are places you travel through. And then there are places that travel through you.”

Kiwiland was born this way: not as a guide, not as a simple graphic essay, but as an artbook,

a personal visual narrative exploring landscape, identity, and cultural encounters in contemporary New Zealand, or as those who truly belong to it call it, Aotearoa.

This book is my way of giving something back: the perspective of a European artist who found himself, almost by chance, immersed in a place capable of reshaping rhythms, priorities, and ways of seeing.

Written and illustrated by Michele di Erre

Traslation help by Amy R. Kent

The context behind it

During the Covid-19 period, while much of the world came to a halt, I found myself “stuck” in New Zealand. But “stuck” doesn’t really capture it.

That’s where I learned how to live.

I had a home, though not truly mine, then a car, and eventually our inseparable Claus, a yellow Toyota Hiace. I had a kind of freedom that, at the time, felt impossible elsewhere. I travelled across both main islands more than once, in different seasons, watching the landscape change and with it, my way of seeing.

But I wasn’t alone.

In New Zealand, I found love. Someone to share the journey with. We got married on a beach in Northland, with my partner eight months pregnant. Our son was born in Kerikeri.

It was a full life. A real one.

And yet, we left.

People often ask why. The most honest answer is: I don’t really know. Maybe the desire to share that happiness with our families, maybe the global confusion of that time, maybe the difficulty of making clear decisions while the whole world felt suspended.

It’s not a choice I regret. But it’s not one I can fully explain either.

What I do know is that we experienced a rare, almost surreal New Zealand: quiet, intimate, nearly untouched by tourism. A privilege that, at times, even made us feel a sense of guilt, while loved ones elsewhere were confined.

But that’s only part of the story and not the one you’ll find in the book.

What this book really is

Kiwiland is hard to define and that’s exactly the point.

It’s a narrative artbook, a graphic essay that takes you on a journey that is as much mental as it is geographical. Through drawings, visual notes, irony, and more introspective digressions, it builds a narrative that moves between observation and interpretation.

It explores:

• travel, in its broadest sense

• nature and landscape, as living presence rather than background

• cultural identity, between a European gaze and local realities

• the dialogue and at times tension between Kiwi and Māori cultures

This is not a book that explains New Zealand. It’s a book that invites you to get lost in it.

A European gaze on contemporary Aotearoa

This project starts from a clear position: being an outsider.

An external perspective, inevitably filtered, yet precisely because of that able to capture contrasts, details, and tensions that often go unnoticed by those who have always belonged.

Aotearoa is not only pristine landscapes and postcard views. It is identity, history, cultural layers, and the relationship between past and present.

This book tries to explore all of that, without claiming to be definitive.

Who this book is for

I recommend it to those who:

• are fascinated by New Zealand, real or imagined

• love books that blend art and storytelling

• are looking for an emotional rather than purely informative experience

• are curious to explore the world through a personal lens

  

Yes, you’ll also find echoes of the landscapes that gave life to one of the most famous fantasy sagas ever created.But above all, you’ll find space to imagine, reflect and hopefully feel.

An invitation (more than a conclusion)

If this book truly works, it won’t be because it makes you want to go to New Zealand.

It will be because it makes you want to leave. Anywhere.

Because travelling, outward or inward, is one of the most powerful ways we have to rediscover empathy, belonging, and our connection to a planet that is constantly changing.

If you want to know more, feel free to reach out anytime at info@micheledierre.com

And if you decide to read the book, you’ll find questions, and maybe a few answers, but above all, a lot of drawings.

It’s available on my website, in selected bookstores, on Amazon, or simply by contacting me directly. If you’re in Turin, you can even get a signed copy with a personal sketch.

Discover how and where to order it.

Here an extract, not in order, from the book! Enjoy!