Visual Art

Inzicht - Verlicht

Insight – Enlightened

Category Public Art
Location Oude Lutherse Kerk
Production 2025

The temporary light installation Insight – Enlightened was commissioned by the Evangelical Lutheran Church Community of Amsterdam and the Luther Museum, on the occasion of five hundred years of Lutheran presence in the 750-year-old city of Amsterdam.

The work consists of a diptych and tells a story of visibility, freedom, and connectedness. It is an ode to the resilience of the Lutheran community and its enduring bond with the city. The history of the Old Lutheran Church itself makes this location particularly meaningful. When the building was built in the 17th century, it was allowed to exist, but under one condition: it could not be visible from the street. The church had to hide behind the façade along the Spui. With Insight – Enlightened, the interior of the church is, for the first time, literally made visible to the outside world.

 

The second part, Enlightened, consists of six blue lanterns that bathe the square in front of the church in soft light. At the entrance, two swans move in sync with the light. The swan refers to Martin Luther and the Lutheran tradition; the blue light symbolizes the heavens. The movement of the swans evokes associations with freedom, openness, and continuity. Together, these two elements form a temporary monument in public space, a quiet gesture that links history with the present.