Sunderland will host a work of art that is made up of all the national flags of countries where homosexuality is illegal as part of the international LGBTQIA+ conference being held in June.
The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress is an everchanging and evolving piece of art, as when a country adopts legislation that is inclusive to LGBTGIA+ people, their respective flag is replaced on the dress with a rainbow flag.
After being photographed in several locations across the world including Amsterdam, San Francisco, Madrid and Athens, while sharing its message on inclusion and equal rights, the dress will now arrive at the National Glass Centre at the University of Sunderland on June 20.
The dimensions of the dress are a physical representation of the scale of homophobia, with a diameter of over 52ft. It will be unveiled to support the inaugural LGBTQIA+ Community Conference, which takes place on June 22.
Visitors will be able to view the dress at a drinks reception at the NCG, which will be attended by members of the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress Foundation, and will also involve a speech by Drew Dalton, the chair of trustees at human rights charity ReportOUT.
Drew, who is also a senior lecturer in sociology at the university, has invited people to come to the event and learn about the dress and why it has had such a profound impact.
He said: "We welcome everyone to come along to our launch night, to view the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress and listen to its history as a symbol of protest.
"We want #SaferToBeMe to be open to all, so please grab a ticket, and find out more about global LBGTQI+ rights."
The director of the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress Foundation, Arnout van Krimpen, has also spoken about the impact that art can have in getting people to think about these issues, as well as explaining why the foundation work in this way.
“During my travels with the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress over the past seven years, it has become clear that art is a very suitable medium to make people think and to talk about LGBTIQ+ rights and emancipation," he said.
“We attract attention with a beautiful object and thus lower the threshold to the less beautiful story behind the object. Activism works."
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