literature Tom Christiaens

2 min reading time

18 Dutch Novels You Need to Read This Summer

Why not reading a novel by a Dutch or Flemish author this summer? Take a look at our selection.

literature Tom Christiaens

1 min reading time

5 Dutch Poets You Need to Read this Summer

Our summer selection of Dutch-language poetry that has recently been translated into English.

language Jeroen Dewulf

5 min reading time

The Inspirational Approach of Dutch Studies in the United States

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.

society Tom Christiaens

4 min reading time

This Is What the Dutch Consider to Be Typically Dutch

Large-scale research shows that the Dutch are unanimous about what makes the Netherlands the Netherlands, despite sharp contradictions in the public debate.

Museum Explorer

society Virginie Platteau

6 min reading time

Belle Epoque Centre Takes You Back to the Golden Age of Blankenberge

Discover the other side of the popular seaside resort with its impressive Art Nouveau houses, adorned with loggias, glazed tiles and elegant ironwork.

society Tom Christiaens

1 min reading time

Brussels Gets First Street Named after Transgender

The former cycling world champion Willy De Bruyn is the first transgender to get a street named after him in Brussels.

The L-Spot

history Derek Blyth

2 min reading time

The Dutch Pyramid of Austerlitz

Did you know there is a Dutch town called Austerlitz with a pyramid nearby, built by Napoleon’s soldiers?

arts Kurt Vanbelleghem

5 min reading time

The Beautiful Imperfection of Designer Maarten Baas

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

history Ciska Hoet

4 min reading time

Women's Suffrage: An Ongoing Struggle

The Netherlands celebrates extensively that women are allowed to vote there since 1919. Yet the struggle is far from over.

arts Dirk Steenhaut

6 min reading time

"A Good Photographer is Like a Jazz Musician"

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

history Dirk Van Assche

5 min reading time

The Treaty of Versailles: Harbinger of Peace and Source of Frustration

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

Friday Verses

literature Pieter Olde Rikkert

1 min reading time

Two Girls

This week's Friday Verses are written by Pieter Olde Rikkert. We selected his poem ‘Two Girls’.

The L-Spot

society Derek Blyth

2 min reading time

The Soundtrack of the City

Derek Blyth expresses his love for the carillons of Flanders and the Netherlands.

Series: A Year on the Post

arts Renske Ebbers

6 min reading time

Cultural Attaché Joost Taverne: "The US is a very interesting country, especially in the field of art and culture."

A Year on the Post is a series of interviews with Cultural Attachés of the Netherlands about their experiences abroad. This edition: Joost Taverne in New York.

language Anna P.H. Geurts

3 min reading time

Our Pride in Our Language Is Easily Hurt

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

literature Ruben Mantels

10 min reading time

The Book Tower's Long Tail

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

language Luc Devoldere

2 min reading time

Dutch Around the World Deserves Stronger Promotional Strategies

Studying Dutch abroad signifies considerable economic and cultural added value. But are the Dutch and Flemish politicians truly aware of this untapped potential?

First Book

literature Dirk Vandenberghe

3 min reading time

Contemporary Slight Adventures by Evelien Vos

In her debut novel 'Niemand keek omhoog’ Evelien Vos raises the question: to what extent can we control our lives?

arts Jos Nijhof

8 min reading time

Big Issues for Young People: Maas Theater and Dance

This Dutch theatre company prepares young people for art, beauty and consolation.

history Tom Christiaens

1 min reading time

Former Anne Frank House Can Be Visited via Google Street View

The images of the house are part of a new online exhibition that includes the only known video of the World War II diarist.

Miscellaneous

arts Luc Devoldere

6 min reading time

The Making Of: Orestes in Ghent and Mosul

Milo Rau and his theater company NTGent adapted the Greek tragedy The Oresteia. Editor-in-chief Luc Devoldere left the performance with mixed feelings.

language Tanja Collet

7 min reading time

The State of Netherlandic Studies in Canada

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

arts Roos van Mierlo

6 min reading time

Intimate Remoteness: The Clouds of Berndnaut Smilde

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

Series: Migration, the Other Way Around

history Christopher Joby

5 min reading time

Boers and Creoloid: the Legacy of Dutch Migration to South Africa

The cultural heritage of the early Dutch settlers in South Africa still plays an important role in the life of this ‘rainbow nation’.

The L-Spot

literature Derek Blyth

2 min reading time

The Footsteps of Elsschot

Derek Blyth goes on a literary pilgrimage in Willem Elsschot’s Antwerp.

arts Bernard Hulsman

7 min reading time

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.

Intersection

society Hind Fraihi

7 min reading time

“Our Colonial Past Should Make Us More Aware of Modern Forms of Slavery”

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

arts Maarten Buser

6 min reading time

The Experience Machines of Philip Vermeulen

The artist from The Hague builds overwhelming experiences in the form of large installations.

society Dirk Vandenberghe

8 min reading time

The Rediscovery of the Bicycle

Mobility policy in France, Belgium and the Netherlands is making way for the bicycle, with Groningen as a founding example.

arts Glen Van Muylem

6 min reading time

Charlotte Adigéry: Alien, Intriguing and Ready to Make You Dance

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

society Hendrik Vos

4 min reading time

The European Elections in the Low Countries: Mini-Europe

The European elections in the Low Countries did not provide clear-cut results. The voters were dispersed across multiple different parties.

arts Marc Holthof

5 min reading time

Fiona Tan Looks at How We Look at Museum MAC's

The Dutch artist shows in the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC’s) in Le Grand-Hornu how Western culture tries to archive and dominate the world.

Series: Migration, the Other Way Around

history Christopher Joby

5 min reading time

Draining and Building: The Dutch in the Baltic Sea Region

The Dutch had a big influence on the cultural, linguistic and physical landscape of countries surrounding the Baltic Sea.

arts Erin Chang

2 min reading time

Germany and the United States are Top Destinations for Dutch Artists

In 2018 Dutch artists participated in more than 15,000 cultural activities in 108 different countries.

society Frank Vandenbroucke

8 min reading time

There's More European Solidarity in the Low Countries Than You Think

Cross-border solidarity in Belgium and the Netherlands is more popular than the political debate suggests.

literature Reinier Salverda

3 min reading time

A Triple First and More: the New English Translation of Multatuli’s Max Havelaar

Reinier Salverda scrutinises the translation of what still is “the greatest novel ever in Dutch literature”.

arts Hilde Van Canneyt

8 min reading time

On the Crossroads of Physics and Art: Isabel Fredeus’ Sensory Work

When natural processes and the laws of physics lead to compelling, lyrical artefacts.

arts

12 min reading time

Arno, Teetering Between Emotion and Banality

Flanders' most colourful and most cosmopolitan rocker turned 70.

society Herwig Reynaert

5 min reading time

Elections in Belgium: A Tale of Two Democracies

What's at stake on Sunday? Political scientist Herwig Reynaert is looking ahead.

society Anna P.H. Geurts

7 min reading time

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.

Museum Explorer

arts Virginie Platteau

6 min reading time

Museum Mayer van den Bergh: Home of Bruegel’s 'Mad Meg' and Other Masterpieces

The Antwerp museum is the first ever to be established solely around the existing collection of one person.

Series: Migration, the Other Way Around

history Willy Van Ryckeghem

6 min reading time

Bound For Sugar: Flemish Traders on Madeira

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

history Jeroen Dewulf

4 min reading time

The Dutch Origin of the Pinkster Festival in America

Pinkster came across to the United States with the 17-th century Dutch settlers.

arts Evelyne Coussens

6 min reading time

A Black Lion of Flanders

Roland Gunst – half Flemish, half Congolese – uses installations, performances, film and video to explore the search for his own identity.

history Frank de Hoog

4 min reading time

A State Beheaded: The Political Fall of Land’s Advocate Johan van Oldenbarnevelt

400 years ago Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was beheaded.