NOW:

SELFIE OF THE SOUL – NDSM XPO XVIII /  07.11 – 18.01.26 

Selfie of the Soul is art without a filter. Six artists present work that transcends the smooth facades of social media. Where digital platforms often construct an image that conforms to expectations, these artists reveal their doubts, vulnerability, strength, and a literal self-confidence.

Esther Kin works performatively with ink, using the embrace as a form to hold cherished elements from her life. Her process balances between control and letting go, Eastern attention and Western ambition, as she explores where happiness lies: in harmony or in the human struggle to achieve it.

Merel Hegenbart documents her burgeoning friendship with Croatian Doro through film and photography, their mutual portraits and correspondence forming an intimate archive. When Doro returns to Croatia, Merel turns the camera on herself, exploring the dual power of the medium: to reveal and to conceal. This work raises the question of whether true freedom in front of the camera is possible.

Hotegni Dansou makes an inner, spiritual journey tangible in his painting installations. Drawing on his Beninese roots, childhood in France, and life in the Netherlands, he weaves stories of migration, change, and self-discovery, inviting the audience to question established frameworks and embrace new perspectives.

Balthasar Prinsen In his Bodyscapes, he combines photographs of his body with natural elements to experience transience and temporality. He takes a critical stance against the contemporary ideal of the self-portrait and calls for a more objective view of ourselves and others.

Nanny Kok sees the mouth as the true ‘selfie of the self’ – the place where emotion, identity and humanity converge – and invites visitors to draw their own mouths to reflect on what happens when that expression disappears in an age of Botox and artificial faces.

Tiago Sá da Costa In Emojified Realities, the artist explores how human emotions and identity are flattened in digital communication through emojis, and invites visitors to see their own reflection through sculptures on mirrors and to reflect on authenticity and emotional capitalism in the digital age

Selfie of the Soul, NDSM XPO XVIII, Part I is curated by Femke Moedt, Carlien Oudes, and Jolanda Lanslots.

NDSM XPO XVIII, Part II 23.01.2026 – 15.03.2026

PREVIOUSLY:

In Art Park III / INTO THE WATER / 18 Sept- 12 Oct 2025

‍In Art Park III / INTO THE WATER, 11 local and international artists show what it means to live and work in a city surrounded by water. The exhibition brings together a variety of works that reflect on our evolving relationship with water and how it influences our shared future. The exhibition is curated by artist Esther Kin and Mulan Go, artistic coordinator at Treehouse NDSM.

In an area like Amsterdam-Noord, close to the river IJ and confronted with a rising sea level, the relationship between humans and nature is most visible: people here have long used canals and rivers as part of their daily lives and infrastructure. Long term domination of the shoreline, channeling and damming water for industry and transport have shaped the landscape. But today, we are confronted with new challenges: rising tides and shifting conditions that remind us of our limitations. Our environment is no longer as predictable as we once believed. Rather than viewing water merely as a resource for human consumption, let’s shift perspective so that water can be seen as nature: a space for reflection and contemplation, far from the rush of daily life. Or a reference that, if we observe it carefully, can inspire and teach us to redefine our relationship with water.

All these diverse perspectives on water are shown in INTO THE WATER, featuring works by Merengue de Beet, Brogen Berwick, Lana Bolkvadze, Nora Hendriks, Esther Kin, Luzie Kurth, Finn Melvin Caird, Sarah Reinbold, Adriana Rohde, Kyra Sacks, Tufanika, and Io Wu.

This exhibition is made possible in part by the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and Stadsdeel Noord.

NDSM ART SAILS / NDSM loods / 18 Sept- 12 Oct 2025

WUNDERSHIPS / May to October 2025

In the exhibition WUNDERSHIPS, artists search for something that inspires them or that they hope for. Things like a better future, recognition, balance, stability, pleasure, or peace.

They do that with gentleness and patience. Aware of everything that is vulnerable.

They have hope, doubt and faith in love. And they like to hoist that up in the mast or let it travel in the wind to one day arrive in a new world full of safety, healthy nature, trust, freedom, respect, equality, diversity and fun.

In the symbolism of water and shipping they find new words and images that fit this continuous journey. Together they created a special fleet of unique works of art that move and inspire: WUNDERSHIPS, bottle ships of our time.

For curator Esther Kin, this is a symbolic route to a softer world in which people look around before they do anything. Aware of all that lives and their interconnectedness. A world that does not strive for expansion, driven by ego and the urge to perform, but listens to doubts and questions.

Today we go into battle

We leave behind our fortress of blankets

Our shelters of down

As soon as we come outside doubt strikes

But we won’t chase it away

Let doubt lead the way

From the poem A SOFT DAY by Eva Gouda

NDSM XPO/ Nieuw New Babylon / 05.04.2024 – 06.10.2024

Migration is an age-old phenomenon that has shaped and transformed the world. People have always been on the run, driven by all kinds of motives. Today, the media strongly and often negatively influences our image of refugees. The story of people who leave behind loved ones and brave oceans in search of a better life is complex. People flee from war, discrimination or economic malaise and the consequences of climate change.
However, fleeing also occurs on a smaller scale, for a variety of reasons, within different cultures, and even within families. What do all these refugees share with each other? What hopes, dreams and desires drive them? What should we do to better understand the refugee? How can we show empathy for their experiences, even if they fall outside our frame of reference?

In ON THE RUN artists involve spectators in the phenomenon of migration with work from various disciplines, from painting to interactive installation. In this way, the exhibition restricts visitors’ freedom of movement and evokes the experience of what it feels like to be held back by regulations, rules and fences. An examination of one’s own privilege as a step to get closer to others.
ON THE RUN is inevitably about ourselves. Me and the other, me and the refugee. Me, the refugee.

Troostkonijn/Esther Kin

Photos evoke emotions. They show beautiful moments, but also cruel ones. They make us feel for other people. But what do I feel if I haven’t experienced someone’s real pain and can’t see beyond the frames the photographer has set for me? Is it my own sadness, fear and impotence? And if I cannot help the victim with the grief I feel, can I also console myself by adding something to the image. Perhaps with the secret hope that my intense empathy will be felt by the victim. Troost (Comfort) rabbit  was born from distraught impotence at the sight of so much recorded suffering. Beyond reason or cause.

Curator Ellen Klijzing
Kunstenaars Sietse H. Bakker, Wim Bakker, Simone Boon, Allard Boterenbrood, Ester Eva Damen, Rika Maja Duevel,
Jim Du Pan, Rienke Enghardt, Gertjan Evenhuis, Catarina Garcia, Ossa Kierkegaard, Esther Kin, Ellen Klijzing, Nanny Kok,
Wim Komhoff, Kyra de Korte, Rucha Kulkarni, Neyde Lantyer, Valerie Van Leersum, DH Mack, Helena Kaori Maeda,
Drager Meurtant, Hélène Min, Esmee Mlihi, Hanneke de Munck, Collectief Onder de Brug, Marcela Perrusquía, Sarah Payton, Ana Pinho, Benny van der Plank, Rinzo, Henk Schut, Jan Selen, Bart-Jan Steerenberg, Mieke de Waal

TOEGANG GRATIS  – PAY WHAT YOU WISH –

FREE ENTRY – PAY WHAT YOU WISH –

During the IJ-Hallen in the NDSM warehouse (one weekend per month from October to March), NDSM FUSE is only accessible via the IJ-Hallen

ART PARK / finding natural beauty in north 

NDSM Treehouse/ sept 13- okt 15 2023

The NDSM shipyard is an area that is always moving, where the rich history of the shipbuilding industry, among others, mixes with the new makers of today. Always looking for an energetic balance that feeds the many daily visitors with impressions and new ideas. Now that the playing field is also expanding with a huge increase in housing construction, the balance will have to adjust again to also accommodate these new residents and their needs.

What do residents need to live a physically and mentally healthy life?
What amount of greenery should be created next to the gray stone? And how do we weigh the importance of these 2 ingredients against each other? A good start for answering these questions is also to look at everything that the area itself already has to offer and how can we give it a chance to grow further and develop well and healthily.
Who needs to feed each other in this area, literally and emotionally? Just as this applies to residents and their needs for food, oxygen and mental enrichment, this also applies to the animals and plants in this ecosystem. Healthy mutual interaction is of vital importance.
In this exhibition we also ask artists and creative makers to shine a light on this. Because they are able to think things through, imagine them and show them to you with emotion. They all chose a different approach, from portraying beauty, harmony and necessity to new ideas for mutual interest through well-functioning cooperation in urban nature.

Because they are able to think things through, imagine them and show them to you with emotion. They all chose a different approach, from portraying beauty, harmony and necessity to new ideas for mutual interest through well-functioning cooperation in urban nature.

NDSM XPO XIII TIJDGEEST EN SPOOKBEELDEN /21.04.23 t/m 20.08.23

In the ‘Tijdgeest en Spookbeelden’ exhibition, artists show their view on the current era, which can simply be called turbulent. What is not questioned or reconsidered? Political and social developments force us to revise entrenched ideas. We are confronted with our own actions and their consequences. The developments in technology, the flow of information and disinformation do not make the world any clearer. Moreover, the rapid rise of AI contributes to an increasingly complex reality.

https://www.ndsm-fuse.eu/programma.html#content1-14n

ALGO RITME/ Esther Kin

An algorithm is a number of steps you take to achieve a certain goal.

But what’s the goal? Does this time ask for the insight that feeling good may be the highest goal? When you dance, every step that unbalances you is naturally followed by a step that offers counterbalance.

How do you keep up in a time when nothing feels solid enough to hold on to? Daring to let go feels like a new control. Pleasure inside feels like a solid foundation.

 NDSM FUSE EXPO XII    AI /01.10.2022 t/m 26.03.2023

AI, Artificial Intelligence, is increasingly part of our lives. The system, which reduces reality to mathematical units by creating and applying algorithms, is used daily in search engines, apps, city planning, financial markets, global logistics, surveillance and many more applications.

This exhibition shows works by artists who respond to AI. Artists who create new works with the help of AI. Artists who oppose it and artists who connect with it, but also artists who approach it scientifically. Artists influenced by the world of games and SF. Artists who question our experience of reality and who comment on AI development in a socially critical way with humor or, on the contrary, express their concerns about it.

Witsel Ode to the mirror neurons. While A.I. take big steps towards accurate image recognition, I would like to show the viewer the beauty of our human brains. Which not only enable us to feel affection for other living beings, but even take the trouble to scan abstract shapes for human traits. We even project human emotions onto these simple white strokes of paint. Mirror neurons keep a close eye on other people’s activities and allow us to literally feel what moves the other person. Could the rise of A.I. blind us too?

Curator: Ellen Klijzing

Kunstenaars: Tom Bekkers, Vincent Boschma, Simone Boon, Jan Borren, Allard Boterenbrood, Hilbrand Bos, Ania Drupka, Rika Maja Duevel, Fabien Gruau, Vladimir Hristov , Ossa Kierkegaart, Esther Kin, Nanny Kok, Bas Kosters, Deniz Kurt,
DH Mack, Lou Moison, Manuel Pellegrini, Giulia Principe, Cedric La Quieze, Paul Rinzo, Ivano Salonia, Henk Schut, Jan Selen, Bart-jan Steerenberg, Hilde Tuinstra, Kevin Walker, Querine van der Weijde

NDSM-plein 29
1033 WC Amsterdam

https://www.ndsm-fuse.eu/

The Power of Collaboration/ Sept 15th t/m Oct 16th 2021  

‍Weaving Roots and Veins
Adriana Rohde & Esther Kin
Installation

The Power of Collaboration, oursecond month-long exhibition at our new Pavilion, features 9 works by local artists that reflect on the immense potential -and nuances- of collective thought and action, as well as a series of lectures and workshops. 

The Power of Collaboration attempts to move away from the focus on the individual and reflect on the huge network of connections and interactions at the base of any transformative action. Within a community (be that human, more-than-human or both), members collaborate for protection, nutrition, or just for help to get around. Even the smallest cooperation can have enormous implications, driving the vital force of change needed to tackle the most urgent issues. 

But these exchanges do not occur without tension. How do we navigate the strain between individuality and collectivity? What are the boundaries that we set for ourselves or are set for us? What are the conditions for real dialogue to take place? If we really defy anthropocentric narratives based on domination, what would true interspecies cohabitation look like? 

Participating artists: Brechtje van Dijk, Liesje van den Berk, Kam Seng Aung, Joshua Weitzel, Sam Tsao, Bruna Souza, Marte van Haaster, Antrianna Moutoula and Ella Tighe, Lies Aris and Judith Segers, Margot Domart, Adriana Rhode and Esther Kin.

Location; Treehouse pavilion NDSM / TT. Neveritaweg 55 – 57 Amsterdam

ODYSEE 2.0 / 29.04 t/m 28.08. 2022

The Odyssey is Homer’s epic about the journey of Odysseus to Ithaca. A journey full of challenges, misery, monsters and temptations. The stories are about betrayal, but also about cleverness and love, perseverance, creativity and hope. A metaphor for man’s journey through life and the search for its meaning.

How does modern man deal with this? How do we deal with this?
Do we close our eyes and let the wind carry us, or do we swim against the current and conquer the whirlpools and dangers that threaten to devour us, like Odysseus?

Curator: Ellen Klijzing

Foto Benny van der Plank https://bennyvanderplank.com/

NDSM FUSE / NDSM-plein 29 /1033 WC Amsterdam / 

          2021 openings expositie voor AON / Draka- Terrein Amsterdam