This Lutheran Loves You
From ‘secret ordination’ to proud frontrunner: the Luther Museum celebrates queer history in an exhibition full of personal stories. The Lutheran Church has proudly led the way in queer emancipation and offers a safe and Christian haven for all colors of the pride rainbow. Especially for World Pride, the Luther Museum is organizing this exhibition to celebrate that everyone is welcome in the Lutheran community! On view from July 10 through October 11, 2026.
‘Ons Geloof is Liefde’ (This Lutheran Loves You) tells the remarkable story of the Lutheran queer community in the Netherlands, from the 1950s to the present day. Within this faith community, there has long been room for the LGBTQIA+ community – why is that? And what can we, as a society, learn from it? Especially for World Pride, we are taking a close look at this history, because it is a special story that needs to be told! Discover this remarkable history through archival material and stories from a generation that can still retell it themselves.
Young queer photographer Jesse van den Berg has created ten portraits of contemporary Lutherans who are also LGBTQIA+. These are presented monumentally in the windows of the church hall: as a symbol of the outside world entering, and the light that the queer community brings with it. Special attention is given to the many queer ministers the Lutheran church boasts, but others from the Lutheran queer community are also featured. A large family portrait of the Duyvendak family is also being created: among the Duyvendak descendants are many LGBTQIA+ individuals. We are making this art commission possible in part through a prize provided by the private fund ESA. An award ceremony is included in the public program.
In the exhibition and the extensive participatory public program associated with it, we pose the question: How is it that Lutherans openly accepted homosexuality so early in history? Does this emancipation apply to the entire rainbow community? And, what can we as a society learn from this multicolored community?
This exhibition fits within the idea of the transformative power of imagination as a collective process. From within the Lutheran community, society is being shaped in a different way, in a practical way. Moreover, together with artists, through the idea of ‘queer futurity’, we want to make visible a world as it *could* be: more creative and inclusive. With this exhibition, we question seemingly undisputed, dominant truths and make room for a multitude of perspectives, voices, and stories.
The exhibition starts at the Luther Museum in Amsterdam and then travels to various Lutheran locations throughout the country: a format that has already proven successful in previous projects by the museum.
We Carry Forward: Queer Horizons of Imagination
The exhibition ‘Our Faith is Love’ receives a contemporary translation in the Regents’ Rooms of the museum with a separate exhibition. Artist and curator Andrea Knezović curates an exhibition here in which seven international young queer artists place the future at the center. Building on the notion of ‘queer futurity’ by writer José Esteban Muñoz, who views queerness as a ‘horizon’, they imagine in an inspiring way how artistic queer practices can envision and shape a better and more inclusive future. They pose the question: ‘How can strategies that deviate from the conventional help us with current life questions surrounding identity, creativity, faith, and a shared future?’
The artists in the exhibition explore subjects such as memory, embodiment, relational processes, and alternative scenarios. Their work reconstructs suppressed histories and silent revolutions, and creates space for multiple realities and diverse ways of living together. The exhibition reflects on how both Lutheran and queer histories have been shaped by reform, preservation, and adaptation. It asks how communities endure and how futures emerge from the margins. Featuring work by: Yamuna Forzani, Philipp Gufler, Andrea Knezović, Farren Linhares (formerly known as Ana Linhares), Katja Mater, Rory Pilgrim, Mikołaj Sobczak, and Toeba Thato. Curator: Andrea Knezović.
