Floating garden renamed to honour artist’s wife

A floating garden along the Panamakade has been officially renamed the Theatuin. The new name was unveiled during a formal ceremony organised by the Vlottenbouwers van Amsterdam.

Artist and counterculture figure Robert Jasper Grootveld originally designed the floating garden as a quiet retreat for himself and his wife, Thea Keizer. When municipal gardeners introduced their own planting scheme, Grootveld was so angry that he refused to attend the official opening.

The municipality named the garden after the quay beside it, a choice Grootveld would never have made himself. The new name honours Keizer, without whom organisers say Grootveld could not have developed as an artist.

Five floating gardens in the harbour

The city lists five gardens built according to Grootveld’s ideas. In addition to the garden at the Panamakade, four others sit at the Douanesteiger in the Entrepothaven: De Oceaan, Yuppie-management, De Wilde Tuin, and De Tuin van Tuynman.

For his sixtieth birthday, the former Zeeburg borough gave Grootveld 60 cubic metres of soil to develop his planted rafts. A late 1990s employment project led to the construction of several more gardens.

Volunteers have maintained the rafts since Grootveld’s death, using his knotting technique to build new floating islands. A restoration and recognition proposal secured 1,779 votes and 40,000 euros in funding through the Oost Begroot participatory budgeting programme.

Documentary screening planned

The history of the gardens is also featured in the documentary Drijfland by Nico Boink. Boink began filming in 1999 and combined his archival footage with material showing the current caretakers at work.

Following an initial premiere at the IISG in September 2025, a screening is scheduled for 30 September 2026 at community centre De Witte Boei. The event will include a discussion with the filmmaker and the raft builders.

Source: Oost Online