Search - the low countries

In his book 'The Discovery of Holland', Jan Brokken describes how the quaint fishing village of Volendam became a bustling artists' colony, attracting painters from all over the world with its enchanting opal light.

Social activism and the struggle for women’s suffrage in the early twentieth century brought together women from countries around the world, including Jane Addams from the United States and Aletta Jacobs from the Netherlands.

Americans in Belgium witnessed the German invasion, occupation and retreat. Their writings are a unique record of the country during this seminal event of the twentieth century.

With a tenacity and consistency reminiscent of Morandi, Karel Dierickx has spent over four decades developing an artistic oeuvre that excels in its circumspection and sensitivity. The so-called out-dated language of painting is once again ...

Few people know that the first African-American woman to be honoured with a bust in the US Capitol was a native speaker of Dutch.

Four hundred years ago, in 1624, the first Dutch settlers set foot in what is now New York City. They founded New Netherland and its capital, New Amsterdam. In this series, compiled by the National Archives of the Netherlands, you read stor...

While myriads of multiracial societies have developed throughout American history, it is generally assumed that the conscious framing of a mixed-racial American identity is a recent phenomenon that started in the late 1970s. It is not well...

In Flemish actress Maaike Neuville's successful debut novel, her experience of theatre comes through in the precision of her sentences.

The impending famine caused by the war in Ukraine recalls previous famines: in Ireland, in Ukraine itself, but also in the Low Countries.

The Dutch period in North America began in 1609 with Henry Hudson's exploration of the river that would be given his name. In 1614 the New Netherland Company was licensed by the States General of the United Provinces for fur trading in the ...

On a visit to the Flemish city of Genk, Derek Blyth discovers restored coal mines, cosmopolitan chickens and one of the world’s great love songs.

The comic strip started in daily newspapers as a funny story at the back of the page. But is has evolved in the Netherlands and Belgium into a subtle and subversive art form. The Fleming Ever Meulen loves cars, houses and women. His illust...

The Low Countries' view of the United States has gradually changed from admiration to sadness and frustration.

His illustrations reveal the quality of timeless design, particularly the graphic spectacle of his cartoon biographies of Rembrandt and Warhol.

The reading table is a piece of Dutch heritage that has survived in lots of cafes, including the one named after writer Harry Mulisch in Café Americain.

When architect Victor Horta was forced to flee during WWI, he travelled to the United States to give lectures. America influenced his ideas about architecture, urban planning, and society.

During the troubled years 1550-1650 there was in the Low Countries an intermittent and rather inefficient attack on alleged witches by legal means, and a relatively modest persecution very largely driven by local demands rather than by the ...

‘Triptych of the Last Supper’ by Dieric Bouts is one of the hundred masterpieces of early modern Dutch and Flemish art in the CODART Canon.

In New York City, the historical memory of Petrus Stuyvesant has recently become controversial, but in the twentieth century, the image of the Dutch director-general of the colony of New Netherland was iconic as a symbol of Dutch-American f...

The United States is a rich source of inspiration for Dutch writer Annejet van der Zijl. 'Americans are open to newcomers and interested in history, perhaps because they live in a young country.'

A leading American genre painter of the nineteenth century jump-started his career in Germany and Holland.

Dutch artist Magda Augusteijn created an innovative web documentary about the history of the former mining town Moengo in Suriname.

In a country with five billion trips by bicycle a year, special roundabouts are no luxury. No wonder the Dutch make roundabouts look like design masterpieces. And now they are spreading to progressive cities around the world.

The influence of this legendary Dutch composer on contemporary classical music is enormous.

Just going by today’s headlines, the end of Western democracy seems imminent. However, is a crisis not the essence of a democracy?

The American Revolution had a significant impact on the Dutch Republic. Not least thanks to Thomas Jefferson, who passed on his political ideals to Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp, the drafter of the Dutch constitution.

Every other Friday we treat you to beautiful verses by a poet from Flanders or the Netherlands. Sometimes an old forgotten poem, but mostly fresh verses by a young or unpublished poet.

When it comes to solving the crisis of the neerlandistiek in the Netherlands, universities can learn a lot from their colleagues in the United States.

After being hidden for six hundred years, the Royal Library of Belgium presents its unique collection of manuscripts from the Burgundian period.

Wouter Paijmans recently exchanged the brush for needle and thread. Still, the painterly approach can be seen in his 'confection paintings'.

Holland has nailed just about every Dutch cliché you can imagine. That’s Holland, Michigan, in case you were wondering.

Never a dull moment in Flanders and The Netherlands. Art, history, language or literature, you name it, there is a museum for everyone's taste in the Low Countries. Let Museum Explorer be your guide.

Belgium has not become a liberal-type welfare state and neither has it become a social democratic-type welfare state. It remains a continental model that requires broad agreements – with or without the ex-ante approval of the social partne...

A new and younger generation in Belgian music is taking over the torch from the established order.

Join us in bidding goodbye to 2023 with some of the most surprising stories we have published this year on literature from Flanders and the Netherlands.

The international jury of the Prix de Rome has selected four visual artists for the shortlist of the Prix de Rome 2019. The Prix de Rome is the oldest and most generous Dutch award for visual artists below the age of 40.

The National Archives of the Netherlands created an online research guide on the subject of slavery in the former Dutch East Indies between 1820 and 1900.

Historian Philip Dröge cycled along American roads in search of what remains of the Dutch-speaking past of the United States.

The company that "bought" Manhattan was based in a handsome classical building that is still standing on the Herenmarkt in the heart of Amsterdam.

In a country of polders, flatness defines everything. This flatness means that nobody can rise above you, nor you above them.

The artist dismantles stereotypes about women and people of colour.

Our selection of recent university press publications in English on the Low Countries.

In the science fiction novel 'Concept M' author Aafke Romeijn takes the reader forward to the Netherlands of 2020, where the disease of colourlessness makes for heated, polarizing debate and protest.

In the Dutch Caribbean, there has been a transition from mother-tongue education in Dutch to high-quality education in Dutch as a Foreign Language.

The work of the Flemish priest and poet Guido Gezelle has repeatedly been linked with both British and American literature and culture. And not without reason.

The new director of Ons Erfdeel regrets that the debate about Flemish self-awareness has degenerated into a polarisation between the populist right and the tendentious left.

Interest in the work of Flemish woodcut artist Frans Masereel has increased substantially in the US and the UK. Masereel biographer Joris van Parys knows how that came about.

Cultural historian Lotte Jensen recounts how she has seen the consequences of climate change with her own eyes.

The founding of New York is often celebrated, but establishing the exact founding date and the part the Dutch played in its history is more complicated than it seems. Historian Jaap Jacobs delves into the city's past and wonders how New Yor...

All over the country young people still study the Dutch language and Netherlandic culture at educational and cultural institutions.

The Dutch artist is not afraid to unravel the loose threads that constitute the fabric of society.

The United States of Belgium tells the story of the First Belgian Revolution before the creation of a language barrier between French and Dutch.

St. Eustatius, a little known island in the Dutch Antilles, played an important role in America’s War of Independence.

In 2016, the Flemish political scientist Kris Deschouwer wrote an illuminating piece about the very special character of the Belgian social security system.

Without the Anglo-Dutch diplomat, the history of the United States would have looked different.

A young, progressive generation is genuinely interested in Belgium’s colonial past, mainly because they realise that the origin of today’s racism can often be found in this period.

The former headquarters of the Holland America Line in Rotterdam brings together residents, businessmen and tourists in the grandeur of the turn of the century.

In the Roaring Twenties, bourgeois Holland was awakened by a new musical wind from the West: jazz!

Charlotte Van den Broeck tells a story of tragic architects who committed suicide in or because of the buildings they designed.

Thierry Baudet’s conservative ideas fly in the face of the enlightenment values that have long been dominant. This opposition is a defining moment for our modern culture.

Since 1945 The Netherlands and Belgium have often been frontrunners on the world stage when it comes to sexuality. But a certain sense of unease has always lingered and seems to be growing these days.

Ellis Meeusen took inspiration from the 1863 law, drawn up by King Willem III, that set out the Netherlands’ official abolition of slavery in Suriname.

While Freemasonry in the Netherlands mainly looks at the Anglo-American tradition, their Belgian Brothers and Sisters adhere to the French or ‘liberal’ tradition.

Superdiversity and interculturality have become inevitable facts. An articulate generation with diverse backgrounds is demanding its place. How is the debate conducted in the Flemish cultural sector, and in particular in the performing arts...

The Netherlands and Belgium lead the way in terms of granting equal rights to transgender citizens in Europe. But the daily struggle against discrimination continues.

Words become outlawed, and people with different opinions soon accuse the other party of engaging in ‘framing’. Are the language police just round the corner?

Humour is right there in the boxing ring of our society. So, there is much more to jokes and witticisms than just getting a laugh. But how does humour relate to power?

On a trip to Geel, Derek Blyth discovers a murdered Irish saint, a community that cares for strangers, and a mellow city that is simply crazy about reggae.

Right-wing extremism and Muslim extremism penetrate deeper into society, even into institutions. Meanwhile a much larger problem is overshadowed: inequality.

The United States remains the second most popular foreign destination for artists from the Netherlands.

Hind Fraihi argues that the new 'blacktivism' should not become an identity movement.

The Ghent-born American inventor of Bakelite brought science and industry closer together.

Our selection of recent university press publications in English on the Low Countries.

Belgium was one of Europe’s founders and main supporters, but in recent times the consensus for the European project has been somewhat worn down.

The boundary between their own lives and acting is intentionally kept thin by the members of theater collective Wunderbaum.

Few Flemish women have played such a major role in political history and are nearly forgotten today as Matilda of Flanders.

Our best language stories of 2019, handpicked by the editor.

The anxieties around the status of the language we speak, find a precedent in the nineteenth-century Netherlands.

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Robin Goudsmit wrote a manual to accompany a painting.

Britain and Belgium became culturally entangled as a result of their interaction in the period between the Napoleonic Wars and the First World War.

Irish historian Paul Doolan claims that for many decades, Dutch historians have inadequately investigated the decolonization of Indonesia.

Join us in bidding goodbye to 2023 with some of the most surprising stories we have published this year about the history of Flanders and the Netherlands.

The glorification of reproductive sexuality, the crusade against abortion, the cult of alpha masculinity: a wind of sexual conservatism, with a hint of the extreme right, is blowing through the Low Countries.

Playfulness is a recurring theme in the Dutch culture: there seems to be a particular gamesome gene present, starting with Erasmus.

‘In God we trust,’ it says on every United States dollar bill. ‘In Flemish flax we also trust,’ it might add.

Forty years after his death, the novels of Louis Paul Boon, Flanders' most anti-authoritarian writer, are still worth reading.

Our selection of recent university press publications in English on the Low Countries.

Regardless of how long NATO remains standing, strengthening military cooperation between European countries is essential.

The author was known for his collections of short stories written while he was interred in psychiatric institutions.

Our best literature stories of 2019, handpicked by the editor.

At least five Dutch museums acquired precious work at the world's leading fine art and antiques fair in Maastricht.

The retrospective Wish I Were Here by the Dutch photographer shows an eventful and intimate history.

On 25 February 1643, two massacres on and around Manhattan Island ignited a war between Dutch settlers and Native Americans that would last for years.

British poet Will Stone explores the importance of Stefan Zweig's early friendship with the oft-overlooked Belgian poet Emile Verhaeren.

Many European rulers gave speeches during the corona crisis. How did they infuse their words with power? What meanings did Willem-Alexander’s concerned look and Filip’s stiff facial expression lend to their messages? And who gave the best s...

We need to decolonise our language, states scriptwriter and opinion former Raf Njotea. Raising awareness is the first step.

On 21 November 1847, the Phoenix steamship burned to the waterline on Lake Michigan and 154 passengers lost their lives. Most of them were Dutch immigrants.

The 1960s saw important diplomatic shifts between the Netherlands and Indonesia, which laid the foundation for the current bilateral relationship, and the opening of the Erasmus Huis in 1970.

Huib Billiet Adriaansen wrote an exciting book about the shared history of Cuba and Belgium since the early sixteenth century.

Despite the English conquest of the northeast coast of North America in 1664, the Dutch language continued to thrive in New York and northern New Jersey for generations, persisting into the twentieth century in certain areas.

Our selection of recent university press publications in English on the Low Countries.

The premise for Anne Eekhout's fourth novel is a good one: to write Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of 'Frankenstein', out of the shadows of her illustrious context.

Five hundred years ago, the Netherlands' first and only pope in history was appointed.

Fifty years ago, Eddy Merckx won his first Tour de France, a few moments later the first man set foot on the moon.

The British have a longstanding love affair with the Duffel coat. It is named after the cloth made in a small Flemish town, though it is hard to establish a link between the town and the coat.

Today, prostitution has been legalised in the Netherlands and decriminalised in Belgium, but the normalisation of ‘sex for money’ is far from a reality.

You think you know Flanders and the Netherlands. But take it from us, you haven’t seen anything yet. British journalist Derek Blyth takes you on microadventures to L-Spots, hidden and exciting places in the Low Countries.

Thanks to letters captured by English privateers, historical linguists can investigate how ordinary people wrote in the Dutch Republic.

The Battle of Arnhem famously ended in failure for the Allied forces. On the contrary, for the German troops, the clash meant a final major military victory.

A common misperception is that once Roman influence ended, the European continent went into a dark abyss with very little happening until the Italian Renaissance in the 14th century.

Since it was established in 1971, ‘De Engelbewaarder’ has been known as the first literary café in the Netherlands. Not only John Irving once drank a beer there.

Our best language stories of 2020, handpicked by the editor.

The Dutch bestselling author is back with a novel on European identity, nostalgia and the end of an era.

The tiny, hyper-expressive Dutch musician is rewriting the rules of the classical music concert-world and is stringing genres together to make them sound as if they have always been closely connected.

Hind Fraihi suggests a digital detox. ‘Why not try a Digital Free Month to drastically free ourselves from social media?’

An American philanthropist has returned a portrait by the 15th-century artist Hans Memling to the city of Bruges, where it was painted.

On 11 October 2009, the Flemish missionary, known as Father Damien, was declared a saint for his extraordinary service in caring for the lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai in the 19th Century.

Students from two British Universities translated an extract from the debut novel of the Flemish-Turkish writer.

Derek Blyth discovers a monument to an English martyr, a traditional horsemeat restaurant and a waterfront that looks like Brooklyn.

What is today's relationship between the Low Countries and their colonial past? The articles in this series have been written by personalities from the Netherlands, Indonesia, Suriname, Belgium and Congo.

Pim Lammers offers us an insight into Gerrit Schouten’s Model of the Memorial of J.F. de Friderici from 1812.

By linking the course to contemporary issues, Dutch and Flemish Studies in Michigan is now more in demand than ever.

Our best literature stories of 2020, handpicked by the editor.

For some, he was a servant, for others a vanquished devil. However, the Irish poet W.B. Yeats sheds a different light on the origins of the controversial Black Pete tradition.

Rotterdam used to be a tough industrial city. Not any longer. It’s now got the energy of New York combined with the liveability of Copenhagen.

Behind the image of the well-organized Netherlands, a distressing reality is hidden, writer Jonah Falke discovered.

In a new book by our publisher Ons Erfdeel vzw, experts state that a lot of institutions and systems that were built up after the Second World War are at risk today.

In his playful works Kasper Bosmans investigates histories of traditions and objects creating new narratives to offer a critical view on cultural and political relics.

Sarah Vos follows how under new directorship, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam is wrestling with a more diverse and inclusive trajectory.

Our best society stories of 2021, handpicked by the editor.

As a socially desirable phenomenon, laughter is the paragon of happiness. But what if that laugh cannot be sustained?

If you really want to get to know Flanders, you have to drive along its stone roads.

The return of the wolf in the Low Countries is accompanied by a blaze of controversy. But one group is an unconditional fan: the far right.

Despite his advanced years, Flemish roots rocker Roland Van Campenhout still plays in the sandpit.

Should we consider the increasing anglicization of higher education in the Netherlands and Flanders a good or bad evolution?

Private residence, Russian embassy, and headquarters of a TV station. Villa Empain in Brussels has been all of these.

Jane Judge’s book provides a profound analysis of the rich sources surrounding the events that shaped the Belgian identity.

On 15 May 1920, the deposed German Emperor, Wilhelm II, settled in ‘House Doorn’, an estate with a lavishly furnished country house near Utrecht. Today, the manor is a museum worth visiting.

Why do the Dutch so readily turn to the English language? Cultural philosopher Ton Lemaire has long been bothered by the use of English words when there exists a perfectly good Dutch alternative.

The biography of the committed Dutch writer Jef Last offers a splendid introduction to the twentieth century.

In her masterful novel 'Your Story, My Story' Dutch author Connie Palmen gives Ted Hughes a voice.

The debut novel by Dutch writer and performer Joost Oomen is a whimsical book brimming with wonderful fantasies.

After the Treaty of Arras in 1435, the international policies of the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, had to overcome several hurdles if he was to achieve his aim of obtaining as much territory and autonomy as he could.

Michele Hutchison has been awarded the prize for Stage Four, her English translation of Sander Kollaard’s Stadium IV.

Dutch Studies students wonder: "Is it appropriate for white students to translate texts about Black experiences of slavery?"

If you’re not Dutch, you’re not much. Does that vision correspond with how other people view the inhabitants of the Low Countries and their language? Or is the picture more nuanced?

Stromae expresses and depicts the diversity of Belgian society through the collision of his Belgian-ness and Brussels patriotism with a multitude of diverse perspectives.

Sexually charged words are so ubiquitous in the Dutch language that we no longer bat an eye. Yet, talking about sex still carries a lingering sense of taboo – one that might be staging a comeback.

On a visit to the Flemish city of Sint-Niklaas, Derek Blyth discovers the largest market square in Belgium, the biggest cigar in the world and the greatest atlas ever printed.

Every month, a translator of Dutch into English gives literary tips by answering two questions: which translated book by a Flemish or Dutch author should everyone read? And, which book absolutely deserves an English translation?

Seventy-five years on from the end of World War II, the differences between Belgium and the Netherlands from an economic perspective are significant and growing.

No matter where you are in the world, the 1928 Olympic Games that were held in Amsterdam have left their mark.

Through collaborations with a wide variety of artists Robbrecht & Daem have managed to develop their own specific voice in which the history of architecture resounds in a most poetic way.

A translator of Dutch into English gives literary tips by answering two questions: which translated book by a Flemish or Dutch author should everyone read? And, which book absolutely deserves an English translation?

Lisa Weeda's excellent debut novel tells the story of a divided Cossack family.

The internationally renowned essayist has been awarded the Golden Quill for his contribution to the international political debate and his outstanding service to the Dutch language.

If you really want to understand how the Dutch lived in the Golden Age, then you should learn to read 17th century Dutch.

Too famous now to still be considered the rising star of Flemish art, Rinus Van de Velde brings a selection of his latest work to a high-profile show at Bozar in Brussels.

Flanders has been synonymous with bicycle racing for many years, but is cycling truly ‘ours’, as one popular Flemish newspaper keeps claiming?

Iduna Paalman wrote a poem about the rise and fall of Maria de’ Medici to accompany a militia piece by Joachim von Sandrart.

The English language has many names and expressions in which the word Dutch is used. Its meaning is often negative.

In the Flemish music industry, pop and rock photographer Alex Vanhee has been a household name for more than 25 years now.

The Brussels-born architect designed a number of important buildings in Colombia in the 1920s that were even declared National Monuments.

Mauritshuis, The Hague, reveals new discoveries and insights from the international scientific examination of Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring.’

The much-acclaimed collection of short stories by the legendary Flemish author has been published in English for the first time.

According to journalist Huib Modderkolk, the Belgian and Dutch governments are taking nowhere near enough protective measures against digital hacking and sabotage.

Our selection of recent university press publications from all over the world that deal with the Low Countries.

Dutch historians have long worked on the assumption that the significance of Atlantic slavery to the Dutch economy was marginal. This assumption is incorrect.

Nowhere in Western Europe were homosexual men persecuted as much as in Bruges in the late Middle Ages.

Historians have chosen new themes to represent the Canon of Dutch History.

Students from two British Universities translated an extract from the most recent novel of the Surinamese Dutch writer Tessa Leuwsha.

The Dutch self-taught scientist died three hundred years ago. The anniversary of his death has led to books and an exhibition that shed light on the life of this wayward pioneer of microbiology.

At Saint Petersburg State University, translation studies and interpreting are important subjects within the study of Dutch language and culture.

Fleming Peter De Brabander provides the logistics for movies about the Second World War.

In the search to find a cure for the Coronavirus, The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has sent 15,000 medicinal molecules to the Rega Institute in Leuven.

Brussels landscape architect Bas Smets reconstructed a fragment of a Pieter Bruegel painting in the landscape of Brabant.

In the First World War, a Belgian armoured battalion was sent abroad against the Germans and Austrians. It engaged in a worldwide adventure.

One hundred years ago, the treaty that would finally end World War I was signed in Versailles. A frustrating experience for war-battered Belgium.

On a visit to the university town of Leuven, Derek Blyth discovers one of Europe’s smartest cities, some of Belgium’s best bars and a walk that takes you to the edge of time.

This debut is a dreamy novel about the love of trees and the loneliness of surviving in a new country.

In his book 'Leopold's Legacy', photographer Oliver Leu is researching the various forms of representation of the colonial history of Congo in Belgium.

The exhibition focuses on slavery in the Dutch colonial era, from the 17th to the 19th century – on three continents and in the Netherlands itself.

They may not paint a cheerful picture of man and the world, but the books of Willem Frederik Hermans are worth re-reading, says writer Henk Pröpper.

The flamboyant South African writer has eighty candles to blow out. Portrait of a complex artist.

The story of the enslaved boy Quaco, as described by his owner, the Dutch-Scottish army officer John Gabriel Stedman, puts the history of slavery in the Dutch colonies into a multilingual and transatlantic perspective.

In history, Dutch windmills are often a symbol of freedom, loyalty to the fatherland and pride in the past. Lugard Mutsaers describes how a useful tool became a national icon.

Where are the official apologies for the sufferings the Dutch and Belgians caused in their former colonies?

The Belgian capital marked a turning point in the German philosopher's life. It was there Marx worked with his close friend Friedrich Engels on his Communist Manifesto.

In the Dutch language, bloomers have been known under a variety of names that refer to the Middle East, New York and Dutch fishermen.

An estimated 600,000 enslaved Africans were traded by the Dutch from West Africa to the Atlantic. Almost half of them were shipped by the West India Company.

If a vaccine against COVID-19 is ever developed, there is a good chance it will happen in Belgium.

Emma Rault makes a plea for a moving memoir of a young man’s struggle with his sexuality and Muslim identity, and for a story set in the twilight zone between waking and sleeping.

Have you ever wondered why orange is the colour of the Netherlands? You find the answer in the sixteenth century.

Students from two British Universities translated an extract from the second novel of Dutch poet and writer Simone Atangana Bekono.

It is the largest acquisition in the history of the museum and is an important transaction for Dutch-English heritage.

In her book 'Reformation in the Low Countries', American historian Christine Kooi delves into how politicians and Protestants came together in a revolt against the Catholic Habsburg rulers, thus laying the foundation for the Dutch Republic....

At Kazerne Dossin in Mechelen, an exhibition highlights the precarious situation of gays and lesbians in Nazi Germany and the occupied countries of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Thanks to the collection of a German physician, the SieboldHuis in Leiden can provide insight into the daily life of nineteenth-century Japan. But its temporary exhibitions also tie in with current issues.

The bad boy of Dutch cinema came to the Cannes Film Festival to please with a lesbian nun drama.

Martin Michael Driessen's delightful short story for the first time in English.

American-born queer poet and translator Egan Garr stirs up enthusiasm for two poets who showed an original voice in Dutch literature in recent years.

If we consider the history of the First World War from the perspective of its enduring legacy, 1917 was the most crucial year of all.

From the Haegse Mercury in 1697 to De Speld in 2022: how daring is Dutch satirical news?

The Dutch writer and visual artist Nicole Montagne is searching for 'imaginary lonelinesses' with, among others, Hopper, Spilliaert and the 'unknown girl from the Seine River'.

Latin is often denounced for being elitist, but people tend to forget that, before, anyone had to master it as a second language. Therefore, not a single European nation could feel disadvantaged by Latin.

While cycling and snarling, linguist Fieke van der Gucht might spur a change in language.

With her latest publication, the Dutch photographer Awoiska van der Molen continues her own modest search for places of human origin.

On a visit to the Flemish city of Ypres, Derek Blyth discovers a museum dedicated to the horror of war, a beer brewed in an underground fortification and a nightly ceremony that might go on for ever.

An exhibition in Mechelen shows portraits of young Habsburg princes and princesses that tell us a lot about the political powers struggles of sixteenth-century Europe.

The Netherlands was long considered more progressive in cinema than Belgium. Surprisingly enough, film censorship was more robust in the Netherlands than in Belgium.

Between the two world wars, a strange kind of snobbery arose among the Colombian elite: the siren call of distant Brussels.

Meet the man who has proved for six albums now that West Flemish is a great dialect to sing pop songs in.

In her documentary My Rembrandt, Oeke Hoogendijk portrays the owners of a painting by the Dutch Old Master. She orchestrates their story into a thrilling detective about the hunt for an unknown Rembrandt.

The wishful, border-breaking collaboration between the Belgian and Dutch education sectors is struggling to get off the ground due to legal obstacles and governmental oversight that isn’t always so benevolent.

There’s a never-ending list of filmmakers, writers and visual artists who have been, and indeed continue to be fascinated by boxing. In the Low Countries as well.

He sets fire to furniture, makes seats grow and locks people in clocks to manipulate time. Designer Maarten Baas continues to surprise.

The Dutch author absorbs influences from all major comic book traditions and aims her work at an eminently international audience.

Kiriko Mechanicus explores Girl in a White Kimono, painted by George Hendrik Breitner in 1894.

The Mauritshuis in The Hague prepares an exhibition about sweet perfumes and foul odours in the 17th century.

In the late eighteenth century, various ships departed from hotspot Ostend to the coasts of Africa to exchange goods for people.

Charity has a long tradition in the Netherlands and the actions for Ukraine show many parallels to past events.

In Daniël Samkalden's ambitious debut novel 'Nova', the three main characters become more involved with one another than they would like.

There is a constant tension in her videos between what moves and what stands still or has been stopped. Her exhibition 'Mall of Europe' can be seen in Mu.ZEE (Ostend) until 21 June.

Migration offers good pickings for populists, while those who take an honest look at the subject find they are up against a headwind. A double interview with migration specialists.

The Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art wants to present “cultural history 2.0”. That's why it has been rethought as a computer game.

There is something about the development of the Indonesian language that irritates journalist Joss Wibisono - it is being mixed with English.

Seventy years ago, the Korean War broke out. Belgium and the Netherlands too sent soldiers to Asia. They were all volunteers who decided to sign up for the most diverse reasons.

A big survey shows that Dutch and Flemish people who move abroad to Anglophone countries don’t speak Dutch quite as often as their other emigrated compatriots do.

In recent years, there has been renewed interest in Great Britain in 'Reynard the Fox', a masterpiece of medieval Dutch literature.

To keep, to remove, or to tuck away in a museum? In his book on statues in the public space, ex-curator Ton Quik does not shy away from the difficult questions.

Funeral Museum Tot Zover in Amsterdam knows how to surprise with exhibitions that are informative, thought-provoking, touch a sensitive chord and make you laugh.

The Leonardo Da Vinci of the Low Countries is responsible for many revolutionary discoveries in physics, architecture, mathematics and linguistics.

In this interview, the Surinamese writer talks about her texts, her language, and her homeland.

At the largest Jan van Eyck exhibition ever you can discover his refined oil-painting techniques, pointed observations of the world and unique talent for painting light that is almost tangible.

The exhibition 'Ode to Antwerp' at Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht explicitly presents old masters from the Low Countries and not from Holland or Flanders.

A digital reading of Berndnaut Smilde's renowned cloud sculptures 'Nimbus 2'.

Dutch-Jewish writer Dola de Jong migrated to New York to escape the Nazis. She was the author of sixteen books for adults and children. But the book that she always intended to write – about how to carry on after the Second World War – neve...

Thanks to the travels of musicians between France and Flanders, the border city Tournai was able to develop as an international music centre in the late Middle Ages.

Many a filmmaker has been inspired by Vermeer's work. A story about the impossible love between master and maid.

Seventy-five years after the declaration of Indonesian independence, it is high time for apologies to be made at the level of government, and for a national memory that is more inclusive.

Stefan Zweig’s reportages on his visits to Belgium have been translated into Dutch and collected into a small, beautifully illustrated volume.

Throughout the history of film, the Dutch painter was given many identities.

The road to success of the iconic Book Tower in Ghent has been all but linear, as historian Ruben Mantels writes in 'Towers of Books'.

The dullness of office life prompts workers to work as little as possible. With 'Xerox', Fien Veldman has written a debut about one such ‘quiet quitter’.

Derek Blyth discovers a battlefield that shaped European history, a cafe dedicated to cycle racing and a tapestry with a secret message.

Linguist Fieke Van der Gucht declares her love to a comma.

On 13 October 1944, the first V1 fell on Antwerp. This was the start of a long period of fear and terror.

For a long time, the study of the history of Dutch slavery has been dominated by the perspective of the coloniser. More and more researchers are now trying to give enslaved people a voice.

After 1945, Belgium and the Netherlands rolled out a monumental social security system that brought prosperity and emancipation. Today, this welfare state has come under pressure.

From systemic teacher shortages to declining language skills, education in Flanders and the Netherlands faces similar problems. So, what can they learn from each other?

Thirteen Flemish artists and cultural organisations have been awarded an Ultima for their outstanding contributions.

Every character navigates between conflicting desires in Lucas Rijneveld's second novel. It all makes My Heavenly Favourite even more claustrophobic than The Discomfort of Evening, Rijneveld’s debut novel, which brought him international ac...

With an oeuvre at once connected to art history and contemporary technology, Rafaël Rozendaal has made a name for himself as a prominent digital artist.

Flemish and Dutch right-wing extremists mostly convene in online environments. However, it is clear the Flemish-Dutch front formation intends to develop into much more than an army of keyboard warriors.

‘Postcolonial Mirror’ and ‘New Colonial Reading List’ are two new important books on Dutch East Indies literature. Both editions aim at a complete revision of the existing image.

Although the Dutch have been ice skating since the 13th century, it was not until the 16th century that ice skaters would regularly appear in paintings, courtesy of the Flemish Master Pieter Bruegel the Elder and... a climatic phenomenon.

Two Flemish merchants left an imprint on the history of the Portuguese island of Madeira that is still visible today.

Artists and designers are increasingly embracing the sensory properties and sustainable potential of microorganisms. Say hello to bioluminescent fungi and microbial weaving.

A translator of Dutch into English gives literary tips by answering two questions: which translated book by a Flemish or Dutch author should everyone read? And, which book absolutely deserves an English translation?

Dutch writer Godfried Bomans died on December 22th 1971. He was one of the first writers to star on television. And though people like to think they know him, he was difficult to grasp.

Linguist Fieke Van der Gucht attempts to disentangle the issue.

With its large collection of works from the Golden Age, Mauritshuis is one of the most important museums in the Netherlands. Important but not without controversy.

From medieval sin to modern climate catastrophe: in art, hybrids of humans, animals and objects confront the reader with the inconceivable.

John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, asserted himself as the dominant power broker in the Low Countries of the late 14th, early 15th century, showing the ever-restless towns what might happen to them should they rebel against his authority.

In the Brussels European Quarter you'll find a museum dedicated to the - at times turbulent - history of Europe.

The distorted image that many Dutch people have of the overseas territories during the colonial occupation is often based on movies.

Literary education expert Jeroen Dera argues that learning to read well is achieved with texts that appeal to the imagination and linguistic ability.

After 132 years, Gorter's masterpiece has finally been published in English, even in two versions.

The Low Countries are the only area in the world where nearly every city and most large towns are home to a carillon.

Four leading Dutch historians call for insights from the past to be used to defeat today's pandemic.

What is the result of the deal between Google Books and the Ghent University Library?

Nowhere is the Gender Pay Gap as strongly present as in professional football and cycling. Hind Fraihi states its about time the gap gets closed.

In his second historical fiction novel, Jeroen Olyslaegers masterfully brings to life the city of Antwerp before, during and after 1566, the year of the Iconoclastic Fury.

From architecture to digital art and brass band to circus, the Flemish Community rewarded its creative talent with Ultimas.

Every month, a translator of Dutch into English gives literary tips by answering two questions: which translated book by a Flemish or Dutch author should everyone read? And, which book absolutely deserves an English translation?

Traumatic feelings about inundations that expose the vulnerability of the Low Countries go hand in hand with a certain pride.

The Dutch have a strong entrepreneurial spirit. In the seventeenth century, they were responsible for the world's first multinational company.

There is quite a bit of confusion surrounding the concept of ‘local,’ particularly in relation to food.

In the 19th century, a very particular kind of tourist came to Flanders: foreigners looking for a quiet place to fight.

Is it a good thing that the Dutch and Flemish crack open a huge number of English books every year? Or will this trend spell disaster for Dutch publishers, authors and translators?

No fewer than 76 different flowers and plants have already been identified on the Ghent Altarpiece. And all that greenery is rich with significance.

Belgium’s largest coastal town has its own unique connection to the Irish author.

An overview of the latest museum acquisitions of old Dutch and Flemish Art.

One of the Netherlands' most legendary bands has been playing outside the establishment for the past forty decades.

After five years of renovation and decolonisation, the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren opened again. Dutch writer of Congolese descent, Kiza Magendane visited the museum with mixed feelings.

Into the Open is a new performance by Voetvolk. Read this portrait from 2019 of unconventional dancer Lisbeth Gruwez, composer Maarten Van Cauwenberghe and their company Voetvolk.

To celebrate the 400th year of birth of Aelbert Cuyp, The Dordrechts Museum is organizing a special exhibition that focuses on his impact on English landscape painters.

Flemish composer Annelies Van Parys is one of the most sought-after contemporary composers in Europe. What makes her talent so unique?

A lifetime after the end of the colonial era, Dutch Indies literature still plays off colonial myths and realities against each other, and finds words for painful, half-forgotten things.

Jan Renkema provides a clear analysis of the Dutch identity in his pamphlet ‘The DNA of the Netherlands’. He starts with a conversation on a flight to Schiphol.

In 2020 Flanders is set to pay tribute to Jan van Eyck. The most impressive tribute to this Flemish Master will be presented in Ghent, where the Museum of Fine Arts is organising its biggest ever Jan van Eyck exhibition.

Thanks to a donation of unique drawings to the New-York Historical Society, American art lovers can finally discover the work of Flemish artist Eugeen Van Mieghem, draughtsman of the common man.

Due to the openness and the usually quick acceptance of various groups the Netherlands has been able to develop as a country in which modern ideas can flourish.

Tourism is increasingly becoming more of a curse than a blessing in Amsterdam, Bruges, Maastricht and numerous other places in the Low Countries.

The development of both Rotterdam teams is closely linked to the most important social evolution in football shortly after World War I.

Reflecting on Leonardo da Vinci’s death, 500 years ago, Luc Devoldere makes a few comments on the notion of the uomo universale.

Loes Wijnhoven has written a funny debut novel about a millennial living life passing from hotel to hotel.

'Mirror of Reality’ is the first comprehensive overview of nineteenth-century Dutch painting, set within the context of the international art world.

When the counts of Holland wanted to break the autonomy of Friesland, they incurred the wrath of the Frisian freedom fighters.

Antwerp painter Jules Schmalzigaug (1882-1917) deserves more prominence in the canon of the European avant-garde.

The Belgian-Bolivian artist translates form and material into sound, building objects in clay and playing them to produce atmospheric soundscapes.

Broadcasters and major news brands focus more and more on podcasting. What about its popularity in Flanders and the Netherlands?

Author Daniel Rovers thinks there is something wrong with the way loneliness is often written about.

Pop music sung in dialect is on the march in the Netherlands. Why?

From the 16th century onwards, the centre of European printmaking was in Flanders and the Netherlands. Printmaking did more even than painting to familiarise Europe with art from the Low Countries.

The English language knows 'they' for one person. But in Dutch a gender-neutral alternative to 'he' and 'she' is still a long way off. This may have to do with a grammatical rule that Dutch speakers consider important.

Our fascination for and exploitation of wild animals has a long history that reveals major social changes: from prestige projects for medieval monarchs to experiences for the general public.

Loss of their mother tongue among children of Syrian refugees in Belgium leads to conflicting ideas about their identity.

Rapper Zwangere Guy enters into a conversation with Brussels in order to get to know the city and himself better.

In the 14th century, up to half of the European population died of the Black Death after it first struck in 1348. Jews were often blamed for the plague and subsequently burned at the stake as punishment.

The heroes of recent Dutch-language books for children and young adults act in groups, differ from the norm and are no longer all white. That’s a win, according to Professor Yra van Dijk and Lecturer Marie-José Klaver.

The Amsterdam pop group Nits is celebrating their anniversary with a tour and an EP that sounds as timeless as it is stimulating. Their intelligent pop music sounds both refined and very European.

A beautiful exhibition at Museum Het Schip in Amsterdam honours the forgotten architect Michel de Klerk as a central figure of the Amsterdam School.

How can we make large, complex issues more manageable? Dutch artist Lieke van der Made discovered that by editing footage, her videos could achieve these ends.

Split up, passed on, sold and resold, many of the stained-glass windows of the Park Abbey near Leuven ended up in the USA. Now 21 of the 41 windows have been restored to the abbey's cloister.

Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is probably modelled after a real-life Belgian policeman.

The most Belgian of all comic strip cowboys has enjoyed international success since his debut in 1946, with millions of albums sold. Even today, a quarter of a century after the death of his creator.

Our selection of Dutch-language books that have recently been translated into English.

The festival season has barely started, but, already, the Ghent artist with Caribbean roots seems to be making her mark this year.

There are well over 150 Dutch loanwords in common use in Japanese and many more words which owe their origin to Dutch.

Due to its geographical closeness to the Low Countries, Britain has played an important role in the history of the Dutch language.

The work of the Antwerp-based duo raises questions about public space and society.

Once upon a time, the Dutch language played an important role in international trade talks and diplomatic relations.

For a short period in the 16th century, Antwerp was really the centre of the world. Everything was possible, as long as it didn't hinder trade and economy, writes historian Michael Pye in his book The Glory Years.

Flanders and the Netherlands are fertile ground for the collaborative economy because they are densely populated and very connected. But is it a success?

One hundred years ago the world encountered a Spanish flu pandemic which cost an estimated 50 to 100 million lives. But in the Netherlands it was long underestimated by the government. Medical historian Leo van Bergen sketches the devastati...

Henry Van de Velde became famous as an architect. But little known is that he started as a painter. From a new catalogue raisonné emerges the picture of an artist who struggled with social status and innovation in his craft.

With a mere 58 cm, Manneken Pis has grown from a fountain into the symbol of Brussels, known throughout the world.

Five hundred years, ago painter Albrecht Dürer travelled through the Low Countries. That journey is now coming to life in an exhibition, several books and his own diary entries.

Autobiographical comics are her trademark, but even in a book about the classical philosopher Hipparchia, Barbara Stok arrives at a theme that also resonates in her other work: the need for a conscious and simple life.

The Dutch writer has received the prestigious PC Hooft Prize 2022 for his extensive and diverse oeuvre. Portrait of a prolific writer with a mission.

Travelling through the British Library’s Dutch-Surinamese Collections via Johan Fretz’s ‘Onder de Paramariboom’.

Forty years after his death, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp is devoting a retrospective to the influential Flemish artist Jef Verheyen.

'Close', 'The Eight Mountains' and 'Tori et Lokita' capture the ineffable in images.

On a visit to the Flemish coastal town of Ostend, Derek Blyth discovers grand architecture, a world-famous soul singer and the perfect shrimp croquette.

Flanders' most colourful and most cosmopolitan rocker turned 70.

International interest in Dutch sources is huge and, thanks to digitalisation, there are more texts available than ever. But human know-how is lagging behind technological progress.

According to Hind Fraihi rabid Black Lives Matters supporters view colour blindness as a form of micro-aggression designed to erase ethnic identity and experience.

Dutch is a pluricentric language. That raises the question of which variety of Dutch foreign students might be offered.

When Dutch children's literature deals with taboos, some books are too unconventional for the anglophone market.

Philip the Bold set the tone for a dynasty that was going to contribute so much to the emergence of a lowland culture and identity.