Uma memória emplumada - IdaDoes

In Uma memória emplumada (A Feathered Memory), director Ida Does explores how the Mauritshuis confronts its colonial roots. The museum is renowned for its world-famous paintings by artists such as Rembrandt and Vermeer. However, the building itself has a complex and painful history. It was constructed in the seventeenth century as a city palace for Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen. As governor general of Dutch Brazil he was a key figure in advancing the transatlantic slave trade. He brought artists and scientists with him to study and document the Brazilian colony. Upon his return, he proudly displayed these idealised representations in the Mauritshuis. Above all, they served a single purpose: to present Brazil as a rich and fertile land, open to colonial exploitation.

In this film Ida Does follows Daiara Tukano, a Brazilian Indigenous artist and human rights activist from the Tukano community, who in 2024 painted the striking mural Wirõ ah'cipá (Shimmers of the Wind) for the museum. Through her perspectives on art, spirituality and the struggle for Indigenous rights, Tukano traces forgotten voices. The swallows in her mural form a spiritual bridge between two continents with a shared past, searching for pathways towards remembrance and collective healing.

The film won the award for Best Film on Matters Relating to the Black Experience / Marginalised People at the 40th edition of Black International Cinema Berlin.