We are incredibly proud to participate in the Museum Murals project, a unique partnership with 20 Dutch museums. The Brazilian Daiara Tukano wraps up our major nationwide project in a colorful way with a mural at the Mauritshuis. But which wall did she paint? And, more importantly, what was her inspiration? The museum’s history, several paintings, or just one specific artwork? Come and see for yourself!
Meet Daiara
Daiara Tukano, full name: Daiara Hori Figueroa Sampaio - Duhigiô, from the indigenous Tukano people of Brazil, was born in São Paulo. Daiara studied Visual Arts and completed a master's degree in Human Rights at The University of Brasília. Tukano’s work explores the culture, history, and traditional spirituality of her people, combined with family. In addition to her work as an artist, she is also an activist, educator, and communicator.
She creates impressive murals that capture the essence of her culture. Through her art, she emphasizes the connection between humans and nature, and the power of indigenous traditions. Her vibrant murals link the past with the present, inviting us to see the world from a different perspective. The mural for Museum Murals bridges the present with the time when Johan Maurits – the founder of the Mauritshuis – governed the colony of Dutch Brazil.
Inspiration
Daiara Tukano created a colorful mural in the Mauritshuis, inspired by our collection and history.
"Carel Fabritius’ Goldfinch immediately caught my eye and stuck in my mind. A little bird chained up. The idea of a bird being unable to fly because it is all chained up made me feel very uncomfortable. For us Yé'pá Mahsã people, birds are very sacred, and it is important for them to be free. They are messengers who go through different layers of the world."
In her mural, Daiara lets birds fly freely, in contrast to Fabritius' chained Goldfinch:
“In this work I’ve centralized a tiny but very important little bird, the swallow. Swallows are birds that travel around the world - just like those travelers who came to our territories - passing through the Amazon and Europe too. On the mural you also find a canoe snake, which is a founding image of our narrative of origin (we are people of the canoe snake of transformation). The snake is accompanied by a flock of free birds, that sing along with the winds, spreading their message of contact, of other dialogues to be built in these spaces of memory, between Brazil and the Netherlands, between the Amazon and The Hague and the museum."
Colourful reflections
Daiara Tukano made several sketches for this mural, from which the museum staff could choose. However, this is not how she usually works. "The proces is very personal and each time is different. There is not one way to work." She normally does not plan beforehand she says. Normally, she creates freehand sketches directly on the wall with a pencil, which she did this time as well.
The sketches are then filled in, colour by colour—first the snake, then the swallows, the pink background, the white stars, and finally, all the details. "I am trying to explore the light here. I work with a very special ink which is interferance ink. It creates colourful reflections in the sunlight. Blues, violets and gold effects. These reflections are hard to capture with a camera but we can see them with our eyes".
This way, the stars appear to twinkle, and she represents the strong wind of The Hague, which makes the flock of swallows float through the air. "I tried to draw the wind, which is one of the characteristics I like in this city".
