The curator of Canterbury Cathedral in the United Kingdom claimed she was personally hurt by the widespread backlash against a temporary graffiti exhibit in the church that included messages appearing to question God’s goodness.
Curator Jacquiline Creswell said the art exhibit titled “Hear Us,” which features temporary graffiti stickers that were slapped on Canterbury’s stone pillars and aim to highlight minorities while posing challenging questions to God, has led to abuse from self-professed Christians, according to Premier Christian News.
“The amount of personal abuse [exhibit leader Alex Vellis] and I have received on social media, from people who are ‘Christian’… that has been hurtful,” she said. “In no way did we want to desecrate the building. I don’t think asking God a question is anything other than a beautiful reflection, and even a form of prayer.”
The exhibit — which asks God questions such as “Are you there?” and “Why did you create hate when love is by far more powerful?” — went viral on X last week, especially after Vice President J.D. Vance and X CEO Elon Musk singled out the graffiti to denounce it.
Welcome to the UK’s most famous cathedral…Canterbury Cathedral. ??
The Cathedral, which was founded over 1400 years ago, has been covered in graffiti art as part of an exhibition by an artist who identities as an ‘agender goblin’, non-binary and a ‘queer vegan.’ pic.twitter.com/Q2OXKRTR7B
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) October 10, 2025
“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,” Vance tweeted last Friday.
Musk called the graffiti “shameful” and a symptom of the Church of England “[debasing] themselves.”
“Relentless anti-Western propaganda has made so many people in the West want to suicide their own culture. Unfortunately, propaganda works,” Musk wrote in another X post. He also agreed with an X user who claimed the Church of England is “just [an] anti-white cult at this point.”
Creswell, who previously served as arts curator at the historic Salisbury Cathedral in England for 12 years, suggested during an interview with the U.K.-based Church Times last year that controversial exhibits in churches could help initiate important conversations.
“There’s no room for error, potentially alienating those that work in or visit a sacred space,” she told the outlet about controversial art exhibits in historic English cathedrals.
“That’s not to say some works won’t cause some adverse comment, or sensitivities might be stirred. Often, an installation is successful because it stirs comment. That’s the opportunity to engage with people, and often the most productive conversations follow.”
Creswell has previously alleged being abused by people over art.
During a 2022 interview about some of the art she helped to implement at Salisbury Cathedral, she alleged she “was verbally abused and, in some cases, physically abused by people who didn’t understand the art.”
“I was told that I was turning the place into a theme park,” she said. “I quickly became aware that it was really important to inform the community, so my colleagues and I decided that, before any exhibition, we would give a presentation explaining the works and what we were trying to achieve.”
She claimed even detractors came to appreciate the exhibits after they were explained to them.
Founded by Augustine of Canterbury, who became the first archbishop of Canterbury in A.D. 597, Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest and most historic Christian buildings in England.
After being rebuilt in the 1070s, the cathedral has played an important role in English Christianity, such as when former Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was murdered there by four knights of King Henry II in 1170.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
