GENDER

CELESTIAL BODIES

Queer transformation through time

Across many pre-colonial cultures, queer and gender-diverse people existed as integral social and spiritual figures. Rather than being defined through identity, they were recognised through function: blessing life transitions, caring for communities, mediating between worlds, and holding knowledge that did not fit binary structures.

Colonial systems of law, religion, and medicine erased or marginalised these roles, reframing queerness as deviation rather than value. Yet queerness did not disappear - it adapted, re-emerged, and continues to transform.

Celestial Bodies begins from this history, asking how queerness functioned before erasure - and how it continues to shape futures beyond fixed definitions. This exhibition presents four characters inspired by plants, organisms, and queer roles.

The exhibition frames queerness as a living system rather than a modern category. Across history, queerness has appeared wherever societies needed care, mediation, resilience, or new ways of seeing. These roles existed long before contemporary language around gender and sexuality, and they continue to re-emerge in different forms.

Celestial bodies are used as a metaphor for this idea. Like stars or planets, queerness exists independently of human rules or regulation. It does not attempt to define queerness. It asks us to recognise it (us) as something that has always existed, and will continue to exist, beyond the systems that try to contain it.

Through photography, video, and costumes, the exhibition invites visitors to see queerness not as an exception or deviation, but as ancient, adaptive, and inherently meaningful.

Celestial Bodies is not only the title of the exhibition, but also the name of the collective formed by OKLA (born in Russia), Cindy van der Loan (Eindhoven), Paloma Lust (born in Malaysia), and Jenda Benda (born in France). Since 2023, these 4 drag artists have worked together as a collective to create work beyond club performances. They view drag as an art form rooted in spirituality and fashion. Each year, they develop a presentation around a central theme. This year’s theme is ‘history’. After all, queerness is neither modern nor unnatural. Queerness has always existed.

The costumes were created by the collective themselves. The photographs are by Jelle Pieter de Boer, and the film is by Peer van de Kam.

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ON HOLD

Prins de Vos: Years of waiting for an initial consultation. That's what you have to go through when applying to a gender clinic. This period of time when your life has been put "on hold" is a real agony for non-binary and trans people seeking (medical) help. With my project On Hold, I’m aiming to create a realistic picture of those, ranging from young to old, who are currently on a waiting list.

Photographer Prins de Vos (Raamsdonk 1991) studied Design at the Academy for Popular Culture in Leeuwarden and made a name with the series and the book ‘Boys do cry’.

De Vos shows how crucial relationships are within communities where support and care are often lacking. By linking personal stories to broader themes such as solidarity, care, and identity, De Vos emphasizes that the right to exist is not merely an individual matter, but is deeply rooted in connection with others. (De Correspondent)

With the series ‘On Hold’, De Vos won the World Press Photo 2025 in the category ‘Singles’ ; in 2026, the series was nominated for the Zilveren Camera.