On Wednesday August 2nd the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress Foundation and COC Amsterdam and Environs donate the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress to the Amsterdam Museum. In the sixteen meter long dress, 75 national flags were included from countries where LHBTI+ is punishable by law. The top of the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress is made of the Amsterdam flag. This underlines that Amsterdam remains open to LHBTI + refugees. The dress is included in the collection of the Amsterdam Museum by the gift and, as a living piece of art, will continue to travel around the world and ask for attention for LHBTI + refugees and rights in the world.
Judikje Kiers, Director of the Amsterdam Museum: “We look forward to showcasing this famous dress in our collection. The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress has an important and unfortunately still relevant message.”
Mattijs van Bergen, one of the four initiators of the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress: “The dress emphasises the power of visual art to make problematic topics accessible and discussed. The foundation encourages awareness of the global situation of anti-LHBTI + legislation and its consequences. The dress continues to ask for attention for these issues. The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress Foundation is proud that the dress is part of the Amsterdam Museum collection and, as such, continues to emphasise its message of openness and inclusion.”
COC Amsterdam is proud of this next step for the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress. “We look forward to the continuation of this project to activate communities locally and internationally and empower LHBTI+ refugees,” says Peter de Ruijter, chairman of COC Amsterdam.
On Wednesday 2 August, a ceremony and activities for LHBTI+ refugees around the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress will be organised during COC’s Shakespeare Club. During the ceremony, Deputy Governor Simone Kukenheim will receive the iconic Amsterdam Rainbow Dress as a gift to the city of Amsterdam. Model Valentijn de Hingh will show the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress. The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress will be on display at the Amsterdam Gallery from 2 to 4 August.
The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress was created in collaboration with the volunteers of COC Amsterdam and the four initiators Arnout van Krimpen, Jochem Kaan, Oeri van Woezik and Mattijs van Bergen.
COC’s Shakespeare Club will take place at the Amsterdam Museum in Amsterdam Pride Week from 31 July to 5 August in 2016. For more information and the program, visit the COC Amsterdam website.
About Amsterdam Museum
Amsterdam Museum tells the story of the city, about past, present and future. Four core values - entrepreneurship, free thinking, creativity and citizenship – characterise the city’s identity. On the basis of these concepts, history is brought to life and linked to present and future. The museum sees it as its social task to make Amsterdam’s story accessible to as wide a public as possible. Amsterdam Museum is structurally supported by BankGiro Lottery and the City of Amsterdam.
