Magic Mirror on the Wall

The exhibition emerged from the international residency programme that has been organised by DIVA since 2021. Every year, the museum invites three artists to work in the DIVA atelier for three months. Between 1 September and 30 November 2025, Moniek Schrijer, Julia Boix-Vives and Lars Joosten developed new work, and the result was Magic Mirror on the Wall. 

The title is taken from the well-known fairy tale of Snow White. In the original version by the Brothers Grimm, the line is ‘Magic mirror on the wall’, although ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall' subsequently became more familiar through translations and thanks to Disney. The fairy tale itself isn't the focus of the exhibition, rather one element of it: the magic mirror. While Snow White is a noticeably passive character, the mirror is much more assertive. It speaks the truth, regardless of power, desire or expectation. In our times of fake news, mediatised images and echo chambers, this is an unexpectedly topical and radical image. 

Like a mirror, the jewel sits at the intersection of body and image, intimacy and public representation. In Magic Mirror on the Wall, the jewel acts as a medium that doesn't confirm, but questions: what do we see, why do we attach importance to what is shown, and who decides what has worth? 

Three artists each give shape to these questions in their own way. Moniek Schrijer strips the diamond of its unquestioned status and reflects on how something is given worth. Julia Boix-Vives turns the mirror towards the body and its rituals, revealing how identity and gender are constructed. Lars Joosten turns the mirror around, revealing the mechanisms that structure connection and behaviour.  

Together, these artists create a space where the jewel doesn't entice but invites us to look. Like the magic mirror, the jewel does not show a comfortable truth, but a sharp reflection of what people hope or think they see.