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High Road to Culture in Flanders and the Netherlands
Following the exhibition 'Newcomers. Flemish Artists in Haarlem (1580-1630)' at the Frans Hals Museum, we bring you a series on migration within and to the Low Countries. What influence did the southern settlers have on Haarlem? How did Belgian refugees fare in the Netherlands during WWI? And how do the Low Countries deal with migration today?
At the beginning of the First World War, one million Belgians fled to the Netherlands. “More so than the Afghans, Ukrainians now are more similar to Belgian refugees back then.”
Thanks to Frans Hals, Karel van Mander and other refugees from Flanders and Brabant, the arts scene in Haarlem was able to flourish between 1580-1630.
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.
Writers Ivo Victoria, Sarah Meuleman and Geert Buelens all found it liberating to move to the Netherlands. But it wasn’t long before they encountered the downsides of their destination country.
In both the Netherlands and Belgium, the number of inhabitants from the other country has grown considerably in the past fifteen years.
