The Irish mythological story of Étaín! Mural by Nina Valkhoff in Drogheda, Ireland

April 17, 2022

By Vidar

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Muralist Nina Valkhoff

Mural by Nina Valkhoff in Drogheda, Ireland. For the DRAWDA festival, by Love Drogheda and Droichead Arts Centre , curated by Dee Walsh and Brian Hegarty.

Nina Valkhoff: My contribution to the DRAWDA festival in Drogheda, Ireland. This was a special one, I was given the Irish mythological story of Étaín, to make my own visual representation of this complex story. I will not do it justice trying to summarize it here, so I will explain the elements I picked.

Étaín was a beautiful woman who got cursed and transformed into a scarlet fly. This is the glowing insect you see in the middle of my painting, a ‘scarlet fly’ with a little twist. In the very end of the story, over a thousand years have passed and Étaín has transformed many times, she flies away with her lover and they are seen as two swans. In my composition I tried to show protection and love, elements that are a part of this story.

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