MURA · THE COLLECTION

The Orange Orchestra

Three musicians on a small stage against a lilac wall: a man plays a double bass made from a slice of orange, a woman in flowered trousers plays a leek as a trumpet, and a seated man in dungarees plays two saucepan lids as cymbals. Drawn in coloured pencil. The kitchen is the concert hall.

Mura Studio · 2026 · Colour pencil · Contemporary · story written 25 September 2026

What is going on

Everything has been borrowed from the fruit bowl and the cupboard, and everyone is taking it seriously. Eyes are closed, cheeks are pink, the leek is raised like a horn. The stage is a curve of warm stripes, the wall is scribbled lilac, and the three figures are placed like a real trio: bass on the left, soloist in the middle, percussion on the right.

How to look at it

Look at the hands, which are all doing something specific: the bassist's fingers on the strings, the trumpeter's grip, the cymbalist's wrists. Then look at the instruments and let them be instruments for a moment before they turn back into groceries. The pencil work is dense and even, so the picture has the texture of a children's book drawn by someone who has stopped caring about being grown up.

Why it is in Mura

Play, Please, mood vibrant. It is the noisiest picture in a silent collection, and it is hung for parties.