Catharinakerk
For nearly seven hundred years, the Catharinakerk has stood on this spot, with the city growing around it over time. This makes it a stronghold of stories: there is so much to tell about what has happened in and around this church throughout the centuries. The building itself carries some of these stories, particularly through its architecture. Narratives tied to faith, translated into magnificent stained-glass windows. These are works of art in their own right, like giant slides that only reveal their stories when illuminated.
Artist Daniel Margraf took these windows as the foundation for the light installation Windows, which was previously featured at GLOW in 2017. The work is an ode to these beautiful windows, from which the colourful glass was blown out during the Second World War. Fortunately, they were redesigned during the church’s reconstruction between 1945 and 1961. The windows you see today are the result of that effort. They are a reminder of the Netherlands rising from difficult times and a reference to all the stories this church holds.
Opportunities to view these stained-glass windows in this way are rare. Stop and take your time. What do you see? Perhaps your eye is drawn to the white dove of peace, or to the prophets, to Mary and the infant Jesus. Or perhaps it is the vibrant play of colours that captures your attention, magnified here on the church itself. Windows is like a giant hidden-object puzzle: there is always something new to discover.
