A Growing Wall of Love: Showing Visible Support to the LGBTQIA+ Community

 

I was born and raised in Ghent, Belgium. For the past 35 years, I have lived in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, with my husband, Jos. Together, we are the fathers of our daughter, Arwen, 21 and our son, Wolf, 18, both adopted as infants from the United States.

Four years ago, at the invitation of the Dordrecht Museum, I launched My Beloved Child: The Growing Wall of Love, a traveling, interactive LGBTQIA+ community art project. The museum invited me to create it for a celebration of freedom and tolerance marking the 450th anniversary of the First Assembly of the Free States, held in Dordrecht.

That 1572 assembly, born out of resistance to Spanish occupation and the horrors of the Inquisition, helped lay the groundwork for freedom of religion in the Netherlands. That assembly helped grow the values many Dutch people still cherish today: freedom of conscience, tolerance, acceptance and the right to be yourself.

As a Christian, I find it heartbreaking that LGBTQIA+ people are still wounded by religious language and toxic theology. I created this artwork to hold up a critical mirror to that harm, but also to make another truth visible: The world, including religious communities, can be safe, welcoming and accepting. Love can be found everywhere, including in places where you might least expect it.

A Critical Mirror and Visible Embrace

The project consists of a sculpture group titled “My Beloved Child” and a living, ever-changing wall of love. The sculpture gives form to the pain inflicted on LGBTQIA+ people in the name of faith. The wall answers that pain with faces, stories and solidarity.

It invites inclusive theology, but it also calls on all people, whether they are religious or not, to love, protect and stand with LGBTQIA+ communities around the world. That call feels especially urgent now, as populist and far-right politicians grow louder in their hostility toward LGBTQIA+ people.

A Wall of Faces

The Growing Wall of Love is the interactive part of the project. It is made of colorful photo-hearts: portraits of people who want to show visible support for LGBTQIA+ people. 

On this wall, images of atheists, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs hang side by side. What unites them is not doctrine, ideology or nationality, but the simple decision to let their humanity speak.

When people visit the artwork, I ask, “Would you like to be part of it?” All I need is a photo of you and if you wish, a short message. I turn that photo into a heart. 

From that moment on, your heart travels with the project, carrying a message of love, acceptance and belonging. At live events, I take photos with my Polaroid camera. People can also join online by sending a digital photo and message.

From 123 Hearts to a Global Project

The project began with just 123 hearts, mostly from family and friends. I thought it might be a one-time exhibition, but the response was immediate and deeply moving.

People joined on the spot. They saw in the wall not only protest, but comfort, not only pain, but courage, not only a statement, but a community. That is when I knew this project couldn’t be for just one occasion. 

Since then, I have taken the project through the Netherlands and Belgium. It has been viewed and grown at Pride events, cultural and religious gatherings, schools, churches, museums, town squares and parks. Today, more than 3,500 people from 99 countries have added their faces to The Growing Wall of Love.

Wherever the wall goes, it changes the room. It creates a place where LGBTQIA+ people can see themselves defended and cherished and where allies can make their support visible. It also asks whether love will remain an abstract value or become something embodied: a face, a message, a public act of solidarity.

An Open Invitation

I take the project wherever I am invited. Organizers of conferences, cultural events, social gatherings, or religious meetings are welcome to contact me if The Growing Wall of Love could add meaning to their event. It is a nonprofit project, carried by love and passion, and I install it free of charge.

Would you like to become part of this global art project? Would you like to give a face to the message that every person should be able to be fully themselves and love whom they love—safely, visibly and equally?

Joining is simple. Send your photo and message through Instagram or email. I will create your photo-heart and share it on the Instagram page. Perhaps we will meet at one of the live events, too?

WorldPride and the Human Rights Conference

The next major exhibition will take place during WorldPride in Amsterdam. The full art project will be installed in the iconic Westerkerk, next to the Anne Frank House, from August 3-7.

On August 4, I will take part in Building Bridges, an event organized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for LGBTQIA+ human rights activists from around the world.

On August 7, I will also speak at the Human Rights Conference on the topic “Artivism: Using Art to Make Rights Visible.”

One heart is small. Thousands of hearts together are not. They become a wall—not to shut people out, but to surround them with love.