lily van der stokker: schattige babyvoetjes (cute baby feet)

Schattige babyvoetjes (Cute baby feet) will be on display at the NDSM-wharf from September 26, 2025 and will remain visible at the head of the industrial Y-helling for two years. Artist’s new text work Lily van der Stokker, specially developed for NDSM, provides a gentle and critical counterbalance to the raw character of the former shipyard, dominated by male makers.

The light green text statement Cute baby feet connects this historic heritage location — once a place of heavy work and mostly male work — with themes around the private domain, parenting and gender. “I put the domestic on a pedestal,” says Van der Stokker. The chosen words, derived from parenting jargon, act as a subtle cultural provocation in an environment where graffiti and monumental marine heritage set the tone. The work invites visitors to look at public space with new eyes.

The NDSM-wharf — a former shipbuilding site that now serves as a creative incubator in the middle of a rapidly changing urban area — stands Cute baby feet symbol for the encounter between the personal and the public. The work contrasts provocatively with both the industrial environment and the graffiti in the field, making a powerful statement about the visibility of domestic and feminine themes in public space.