JD Vance slams Canterbury Cathedral art installation

US Vice-President JD Vance has criticised a new installation by marginalised communities and creatives at Canterbury Cathedral.

The artwork features red graffiti-style writing on ancient stone walls, posing questions to God such as: “Why did you create hate when love is by far more powerful?”

Mr Vance wrote on X that the exhibit had made a “beautiful historical building really ugly”.

Others have praised the temporary exhibit. David Monteith, Dean of Canterbury, said it “intentionally builds bridges between cultures, styles and genres”.

Mr Monteith said it “allows us to receive the gifts of younger people who have much to say and from whom we need to hear much”.

“Above all, this graffiti makes me wonder why I am not always able to be as candid, not least in my prayers,” he said.

Canterbury Cathedral said the exhibit, which officially opens on 17 October, has given visitors “visceral reactions”.

“I think it’s sacrilegious,” said one cathedral-goer, while another questioned if the graffiti makes the historic site “look like an underground car park in Peckham”.

Mr Vance said: “It is weird to me that these people don’t see the irony of honoring ‘marginalized communities’ by making a beautiful historical building really ugly.”

The cathedral said the project partnered with marginalised communities, such as Punjabi, black and brown diaspora, neurodivergent, and LGBTQIA+ groups.

Through a series of workshops, groups were asked to collaboratively create handwritten literature responding to the question, “What would you ask God?”

The installation, created by poet Alex Vellis and curator Jacquiline Creswell, also features questions such as “Why did you create hate when love is by far more powerful?” and “Does everything have a soul?”

The cathedral said the exhibition speaks to the “historical graffiti” within its walls, including masons’ marks, crosses and Christograms and marks made throughout the centuries by pilgrims.

“This project, at its core, is about community, using your voice, and change,” said Mr Vellis.

“Graffiti is the language of the unheard”.