Museum Catharijneconvent

A godless Era? - the rebellious Sixties

Exhibition feb. 2022 - aug. 2022

Exhibition design: Paul Toornend

Graphic design: Michaël Snitker

Styling: Studio 60A/Mirella Sahetapy

The rebellious Sixties, one of the most revolutionary yet at the same time religious periods in Dutch history. At the beginning of the decade the influence of the Church still permeated daily life. Large families were the norm, mixed marriage was taboo, and people went to shops run by people of their own faith. But then cracks started appearing.

Women enthusiastically took the contraceptive pill, saints were thrown overboard, and homosexuality was cautiously discussed. Did the Dutch abandon God? Immerse yourself in a tumultuous period that now seems to be in the distant past but whose effects are still with us today. A Godless era?, the first exhibition ever about the great religious upheaval of the 1960s.

In 1960 the Netherlands was one of the most Christian countries in Europe, but nowhere else did the churches start emptying so fast. The brightest kid in the class soon became the enfant terrible of the Catholic Church. Under the horrified eye of the international press. But anyone who thinks that this turbulent decade soon became ancient history couldn’t be more wrong. It’s time to take stock.

In ‘A godless era?’ the museum will employ photography, music, art and radio and TV fragments to shine a light on a world in which faith and its traditional concerns became subjects of discussion. The ties between the Church and faith that had lasted for centuries were no longer self-evident. What replaced them? In ‘A godless era?’ frivolous or imaginative ideas took over, along with conservative outraged reactions.

Catharijneconvent.nl