High Road to Culture in Flanders and the Netherlands

Publications

High Road to Culture in Flanders and the Netherlands

Article

Digital Humanities and Low Countries Culture

Michel Foucault may have predicted the end of the humanities, but today Digital Humanaties, the digital revolution and the virtual world are offering a new beginning. In the process, our humanities research and how this is being done will ...

Article

The Bon Vivant Back in the Hermitage

The life of the painting The Bon Vivant (De vrolijke drinker), by Louis de Moni (1698-1771), has been quite eventful. During the lifetime of the Dutch master, at the start of the 1760s this work in cabinet format was purchased for the coll...

Article

How Free is Dutch-Language Poetry?

Anyone reviewing the landscape of the Dutch-language poetry of the last few years is bound to note that it is flourishing, that it is characterised by an enormously multi-facetted structure and that, considering its negligible economic imp...

Article

Let There Be Light. Discovering Eindhoven

Back in the 1880s, when Van Gogh was plodding through the Brabant potato fields, Eindhoven was just a small Catholic town. Now it is the fifth largest city in the Netherlands, with an acclaimed modern art museum and a world-class design ac...

Article

In Search of a Language Utopia

‘Conceptual engineering’ tries to improve the way we speak about concepts. But is it possible to ‘improve’ language? And if so, how should we go about it?

Article

What Tree Rings and Core Samples Tell Us About Our World

Those who know where to look can read the history of the planet and the human race in trees and landscapes. Two researchers from the Low Countries, Salomon Kroonenberg and Valerie Trouet, tell the story of the earth, our past and perhaps al...

Column

The L-Spot

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.

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Hans Depelchin: wind egg

This week's Friday Verses are written by Hans Depelchin. We translated his poem ‘wind egg’.

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Ulrike Burki: Berlin

This week's Friday Verses are written by Ulrike Burki. We translated her poem ‘Berlin’.

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Watching The Night Watch Together

Rineke Dijkstra’s new film installation Night Watching shows 14 groups of people looking at Rembrandt’s The Night Watch.

Article

This Is How Dutch Farmers Are Saving Water

By 2050, Wadden Island Texel will be one of the driest places in the Netherlands. Local farmers are now combining ancient knowledge with innovative techniques to retain freshwater and prevent soil salinisation.

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From Clara to Bokito: The Wilderness in Our Zoos

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.

Article

The Ambiguous View Of Sexuality In The Low Countries

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.

Article

The World Was Drinking and Whoring

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.

Article

A Whiter Shade of Car

The bicycle and car sharing that we know today can be traced back to the ‘White Bicycles’ and ‘White Cars’ initiated by the Provo movement.

Article

Who Is in Charge of Language?

When it comes to Dutch, editor-in-chief Luc Devoldere states that it is not clear who determines which language norms to respect and which rules to adhere to.

Article

Striving for a World Without Bars

His experience as a jury member in a criminal trial led writer Peter Vermeersch to delve into alternatives to imprisonment, and to discover a world that was far removed from naïve dreams or bizarre utopias.

Article

The Top 7 Society Stories of the Year

Join us in bidding goodbye to 2022 with seven of the finest stories we published this year about Dutch and Flemish society that are worth re-reading or listening to again.

Article

How Much Colour Can The Flemish Art World Tolerate?

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...

Article

Time for Business: Dutch Studies in the UK

In 2019 the oldest Centre for Dutch Studies in the UK, housed at the University College London (UCL), celebrates its centenary. One may ask if there is much cause for celebration.

Article

There Is More to the Cow’s Voice Than Just Moo

Dairy cows are social beings that communicate with each other and with humans. However, sociolinguistics has paid little attention to this kind of interaction. Leonie Cornips aims to shed light on this through her language research on cows.

Article

Karl Marx Wrote Global History in Brussels

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.

Article

Belgium Is Europe in Miniature

Belgium has an interim minority government to deal with the corona crisis. The emergency has exacerbated the division in the country. Will Belgium fall apart, or is it actually a laboratory for Europe?

Article

A Literary Triumph: 'The Ascent' by Stefan Hertmans

In his novel about a Flemish Nazi collaborator, bestselling author Stefan Hertmans presents a sharp image of life under German occupation, which he links perceptively to the personal history of his characters.

Article

Voyage Around the World on Sandals

On the eve of the First World War, three Dutch friends believed they could make the world a better place by walking around the globe and propagating socialism in Esperanto.

Article

Who Gave the Most Royal Corona Speech?

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...

Article

A Museum of Compromise

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.

Article

Ypres Marches On

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.

Article

Oh America, Where Art Thou?

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

Article

David McKay’s Choice: Astrid Roemer and Raoul de Jong

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?

Article

David Colmer’s Choice: Manon Uphoff and Basuki Gunawan

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?

Article

The Colonial Debate in the Netherlands in Four Monuments

What did the Dutch know, through the ages, about what went on in their colonies, in the East and West Indies? Ewald Vanvught gives an outline of the current changing view of the colonial period in the Netherlands with reference to four monu...

Article

A Tsar on a Tow Canal Boat

For three centuries, the barge between Bruges and Ghent was a popular and luxurious means of transport.

Article

The Noble Beauty of the Terraced House

No house is more Dutch than the terraced house. Yet this type of architecture has only recently come to be valued as it should. Time to redress the balance.

Article

Irksome English

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.

Article

The Malleable Rembrandt

Dutch art often appears in debates about identity, and this always happens in terms of what is 'own' and 'foreign' to it. Rembrandt in particular turns out to be very 'malleable'.

Article

The Sweet Pleasures of Lier

Derek Blyth discovers a wedding that changed history, the world’s most complex clock and some of life’s sweet pleasures.

Article

Holy Halle!

On a visit to the Flemish city of Halle, Derek Blyth discovers a miraculous statue, a forgotten Flemish artist and an intriguing street art trail.

Article

Horsing Around in Vilvoorde

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

Article

The 'Black Pete' of W.B. Yeats

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.

Article

Etty Hillesum: a Life Interrupted, a Spirit Unperturbed

The Amsterdam house where Jewish writer Etty Hillesum wrote her famous diary during WWII is in danger of being demolished. Philippe Noble, who translated her work into French, tells us why the writings she left behind are still as powerful ...

Article

Sinterklaas Is Comin’ to Town

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.

Article

#12 - When Jews Were Blamed for the Black Death

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.

Article

James Ensor, Rebel For All Times

James Ensor was not just a crazy, angry, solitary painter of masks, he was also an authentic rebel who spent a lifetime using his voice to champion values that still hold true today.

Article

Ode to Mechelen

On a trip to Mechelen, Derek Blyth discovers lost mediaeval rivers, Beethoven’s Flemish roots and the world’s oldest carillon school.

Article

#16 - The Fishy History of Dutch Herring

Eating herring is a Dutch tradition. This silvery, slimy fish is even part of their national identity, thanks to a myth about a humble herring fisherman.

Article

#25 - Pheasant Fealty

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.

Article

Antwerp's Expunged Protestant Past

Two Antwerp monks were burned at the stake five hundred years ago because of their Lutheran beliefs. Their deaths remind us of a piece of the faded religious past of the Low Countries.

Article

A Sea Change in Ostend

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.

Article

How Animals Assumed Greater Importance

Despite rapidly losing touch with nature, we have also come to cherish animals in recent decades. That doesn’t come without legal, political and social consequences.

Article

Fast Living: A Modern Malady?

Travel diaries written by Dutch men and women born more than two centuries ago suggest that stress is not a recent phenomenon.

Article

Young Readers Need New Heroes

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.

Article

Peeling the Onion in Aalst

On a visit to the Flemish city of Aalst, Derek Blyth discovers a Carnival parade that likes to shock, a priest that took on the factory bosses and a utopian library.

Article

A Stranger on His Own Land

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

Article

The Future of Historical Dutch Is International

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.

Article

Don’t Worry, Be Hasselt

On a trip to the capital of the Belgian province of Limburg, Derek Blyth finds comforting food, innovative architecture and 25 places to be happy.

Article

#7 - Getting Down in Town

Freed from the need to be working the land due to the improvements in agriculture, people in the Low Countries began congregating in urban centres. For the first time, they were able to put their fingers onto the scales of power.

Article

Poetry That Wants to Live

One hundred years ago, Paul van Ostaijen wrote his famous poetry collection 'Bezette Stad' (Occupied City). Dutch poet Iduna Paalman finds in the occupied city of Van Ostaijen the blueprint for the infected city of today.

Article

Kortrijk Earns It Spurs

Calling Kortrijk a hidden pearl along the river Lys might be too much honour. Yet there are numerous treasures to be found.

Article

When Painters Go Ice Skating

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.

Article

#19 - No One Messes Around With John the Fearless

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.

Article

The Leuven Is Easy

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.

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