Amsterdam Rainbow Dress – Unfolded Voices
A new chapter
After ten years of international presentations, photography and dialogue, the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress enters a new phase. For the first time, the stories behind the Dress become audible.
Amsterdam Rainbow Dress: Unfolded Voices is a large-scale immersive installation developed for WorldPride Amsterdam 2026 in co-production with Dutch National Opera & Ballet. Part installation, part audiovisual artwork and part digital opera, it expands the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress into a new artistic dimension.
From visibility to voice
For a decade, the Dress has visualised the reality of LGBTQIA+ rights around the world. Unfolded Voices adds a new layer.
Surrounding the Dress are the faces and voices of people connected to countries represented within the artwork, or to places where LGBTQIA+ rights remain under pressure.
Their stories transform abstract concepts such as criminalisation, exclusion and resilience into deeply human experiences.
A digital opera
The installation combines music, moving image, text, space and presence.
Rather than following a traditional operatic narrative, Unfolded Voices is conceived as an immersive environment in which audiences move through a landscape of voices surrounding the Dress.
Co-produced with Dutch National Opera & Ballet
Unfolded Voices is realised in close collaboration with Dutch National Opera & Ballet.
Together we are exploring new territory between visual art, installation art, music theatre and contemporary opera.
The partnership provides both artistic and technical expertise, enabling the project to be realised at the highest level while remaining true to its social and human rights foundations.
WorldPride Amsterdam 2026
From 25 July to 8 August 2026, visitors can experience Amsterdam Rainbow Dress: Unfolded Voices at Dutch National Opera & Ballet during WorldPride Amsterdam.
As the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress celebrates its tenth anniversary, Unfolded Voices marks the beginning of a new decade.
If the first ten years made inequality visible, this next chapter allows it to resonate.
International future
Unfolded Voices has been developed with international presentation in mind.
The installation can be adapted for theatres, museums, festivals and cultural institutions worldwide, creating opportunities for new local voices and new conversations in every location where it is presented.
The story continues.
The work is created by:
Concept and Direction
Arnout van Krimpen
Concept and Composition
Thomas van Dun
Libretto
Fleur Pierets