Murals in the stairwells

Inspired by the architecture and the collection of the Kunstmuseum Den Haag, the museum has invited three artists to create contemporary murals in the museum’s historic stairwells. With these commisions, the museum is carrying on the tradition of inviting artists to create works in its stairwells, thereby entering into an artistic exchange with the building and the collection. 

Mural by Hadassah Emmerich

In the first staicase Hadassah Emmerich has created the mural Petals Pulp Papaya Plunge. The mural,  was designed especially for this location and it surrounds visitors with a vibrant world of abstract plants and fruits.

The work is inspired by the batik panels in one of the historic period rooms in the Kunstmuseum and enters into a dialogue with the architecture of the museum building, designed by Hendrik Petrus Berlage. In this work, Emmerich explores themes such as hybrid forms and cultural stratification, with the recurring motif of the papaya playing a central role.

Natasja Kensmil

Inspired by the historical Gobelin Room in Kunstmuseum Den Haag, artist Natasja Kensmil has completed a contemporary mural entitled Allegory of Glaciers. 

Natasja Kensmil has transformed the stairwell into a world of melting glacial landscapes in which mythology and reality merge and commingle. Like a pinboard covered in old postcards, the panoramas elicit memories. The scenes were inspired by archival images of glaciers, pages from medieval manuscripts and fragments of historical maps. This is Kensmil's way of underscoring glaciers' vital role as natural archives in which the history of our planet is documented. 

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum

The work In the world’s turmoil by artist Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum (1980) marks the completion of the transformation of three monumental stairwells. Sunstrum based her work for the stairwell on a preliminary design for the Kunstmuseum by architect Berlage (1856–1934). Part of the preliminary design is a dome that was never built, which bore the inscription: 'In 's wereld' woelingen / schoonheids rust gestee' wich translates to: 'In the world's turmoil / beauty’s haven of peace'. Berlage believed that art could ‘uplift’ the people and saw the museum as a temple, removed from the turbulent reality of the world. The interwar period, the time between the two world wars during which Berlage worked on his design, was a time of political tensions in Europe.

Sunstrum sees a parallel here with the turbulent times in which we live now. At the same time, she identifies a blind spot: whereas Berlage regarded art and beauty as a refuge, it is now almost impossible to look away from what is happening in the world. Sunstrum sees Berlage’s vision as a form of escapism that many cannot afford, and which is no longer sufficient today. By repeating some of his words, circling towards the blue sky, she poses the question: what are we building in its place?