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A special interactive treasure map by Constant Dullaart will lead buyers to artworks hidden on remote island off Costa Rica

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Buried treasure is the stuff of pirate tales and childhood fantasies. But a very unusual project by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Academy has seen legend turned into reality (well, almost) as valuable works of art by some of the world's most highly regarded artists has been buried on a remote 'treasure island' off Costa Rica.

Earlier this year, forty leading contemporary artists contributed specially commissioned works which were buried as a unique trove of artwork at a secret location on the remote Isla del Coco - a place whose pirate history has inspired swashbuckling legends for centuries.

The works or art were then sold at auction and with buyers acquiring a unique sculptural ensemble containing a custom-designed map, and with it the possibility of recovering the buried twin chest, along with the buried artworks that it houses, from its jungle crypt.

The auction raised 187,500 USD through the sale of Constant Dullaarts encrypted treasure map and Aranda/Lasch's Treasure Chest, during Phillips' Contemporary Evening Sale.

Proceeds from the sale will go to a new research and conservation project devised by TBA21-ACADEMY in collaboration with their Costa Rican partners Mision Tiburon and Fundacion Amigos de la Isla del Coco (FAICO) on the Isla Del Coco, a unique site that offers crucial new information on shark pupping grounds.

Marina Abramovic, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Chicks on Speed and Lawrence Weiner.

Nadim Samman, a curator with the TBA21-ACADEMY, said: 'With this sale the project moves to its next phase. This is a milestone that allows us to implement our pelagic research and conservation project for Isla del Coco. What began as an experiment in pushing the definition of what an exhibition can be now becomes a concrete initiative to conserve the real treasure of Cocos Island.'

Benjamin Godsill, Head of Under the Influence Sale, Phillips, said: We are so excited to have sold an exhibition, an object, an artwork, as well as a new model of philanthropy. This is a great example of how the public and private sectors can work together to support such a necessary and worthwhile cause.'

'Treasure of Lima: A Buried Exhibition': was conceived by TBA21-ACADEMY, the arts foundation chaired by philanthropist Francesca von Habsburg.