Exquisite dress spanning 2,000 square feet sends powerful message about countries where LGBT+ people are criminalised-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

As we ring in Pride Month, a dress with a difference is helping to address the injustices LGBTQ+ people around the world still face.

The annual event provides an opportunity for members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies to celebrate their identities, accomplishments, and reflect on the struggle for equality.

To mark the occasion, the documentary Pride from Above will offer viewers a unique look at Pride celebrations around the world.

It will deliver a new perspective on Pride – from the air – whilst also revealing the ‘historic activism, fearless creativity and logistical ingenuity’ required to pull off these technicoloured festivals of hope.

Featured in the documentary is also the story of The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress, a work of art consisting of flags from all countries that criminalise LGBTQ+ people.

As explained in an exclusive clip from the documentary, ‘art is taking a stand for human rights’.

The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress features in a new documentary (Picture: Biana De Marchi/ EPA-EFE/ REX/ Shutterstock)

Created by Mattijs van Bergen, Arnout van Krimpen, Jochem Kaan and Oeri van Woezik, the dress measures over 2000 square feet and was created to raise awareness.

A patchwork of 68 national flags and nine rainbow flags, each national flag belongs to a country that criminalises LGBTQ+ people.

When a country ends its discriminatory laws, a panel will be replaced with a rainbow, so when every queer person on earth is free of legal persecution, the dress will be transformed in a gown of rainbow colours.

The dress is a patchwork of 68 national flags and nine rainbow flags (Picture: National Geographic)

In the clip, the dress is shown on display in Mozambique’s capital Maputo last year, when it was shown as a way to draw attention to the continued fight for LGBTQI+ rights across Africa.

The dress has travelled around the globe since its creation, but is named after the Dutch city to ‘underline the importance of Amsterdam remaining open to LGBTIQ+ refugees and migrants who have been persecuted in their country because of who they are or whom they love’.

As the creators have said, while for centuries Amsterdam has been an LGBTIQ+ safe haven, this status ‘must be cultivated and safeguarded for future generations’.

Pride month has officially kicked off (Picture: National Geographic)

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‘As the dress travels around the world we hope to extend this notion to other cities and communities, advocating for worldwide and multi-layered inclusivity and tolerance.’

Pride from Above takes a bird’s eye view of these colourful and dynamic festivals through aerial footage which will allow viewers to gain a new appreciation for the scale and organisation required to pull off these events, as well as the historic activism and creativity that underpins them.

Pride from Above airs today at 10pm on National Geographic.

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