Three large draperies where shown for the first time at the Exposición Universal 1992 (Expo’92) in Sevilla. They where displayed at the facade of the ‘Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla’.
In the following years, the draperies were shown in other public places, in various cities of Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany.

Hand painted on velvet, they show a different animal each, a hummingbird, a snow-leopard and a coyote.

Velvet drapes have been used throughout centuries, usually in a ceremonial fashion on big festivities, always with a thematic content representing the world view of power.

On the contrary, these drapes by Darya von Berner represent animals, that were sacred in cultures , that are nowadays neglected or even forgotten.

HUMMINGBIRD
On the floor of Nazca, Peru a drawing of a huge hummingbird can be found. For the Aztecs, the image of the smallest bird in the world, represented their deity Huitzilopochtli.

SNOW LEOPARD
The snow leopard, on the other hand, was a symbol of the ancient nomadic cultures in Central Asia.

COYOTE
The coyote, a sacred animal for American Indians, also featured as the protagonist of Joseph Beuys’ action ‘I like America and America likes me’ in 1974, in the René Block Gallery (New York).