Amsterdam Rainbow Dress in Vancouver

The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress will be visiting Vancouver ahead of the Vancouver Pride Parade this week. This 52-foot-tall work of living art is made from the flags of the 68 countries where being 2SLGBTQAI+ is punishable by law. It is used to encourage debate and awareness about inclusion and equal rights even beyond the place where the dress is shown.

Amsterdam Rainbow Dress in Vancouver

• Displayed outside the Vancouver Art Gallery from 4:00pm to 8:00pm this Friday during the Free First Friday Night.

The dress will be photographed by Jamie Mann in the British Columbia Parliament Building in Victoria, at the Vancouver Art Gallery and on Jericho Beach. During these shoots, the dress will be worn by three well-known 2SLGBTQAI+ community members, Kendall Gender (runner up Canada’s Drag Race season 2), Jaylene Thyme (two-spirited indigenous advocate) and Norma Lize (trans activist and member of Rainbow Refugee).

The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress also includes the flags of eight countries in which homosexual acts can result in the death penalty.

Since its creation in 2016, it has traveled around the world to call attention to the fight for equality, inclusiveness, and tolerance.

Arnout van Krimpen, creator of the dress says: “In addition to our call for eliminating existing anti-LGBTIQ+ legislations, we want to make our own community and our allies constantly aware that freedom needs to be maintained. Freedom needs love, freedom needs care, because it is the most precious thing we have.”

The Netherlands is a strong advocate for 2SLGBTQAI+ rights and in 2001 became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage. The Dutch organization for LGBTQ+ rights (COC) founded in 1946, is the oldest worldwide. 2SLGBTQAI+ has been at the heart of the Dutch government’s human rights policy for decades.

The Dress has been modelled by a variety of models from the global 2SLGBTQAI+ community in various countries, including Australia, Denmark, Mozambique, South Africa, the United States and Sweden. In 2021, the dress visited Canada’s east coast.

Follow the Dress on Facebook for more information and updates.