Results for “rob van essen”

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.

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

What did the past smell like? And how does scent influence our culture? Biologist and philosopher Geerdt Magiels takes us to the stinking seventeenth century and to the nearly scent-free Low Countries of today.

When it comes to language, Belgium has a complex history. That is beautifully illustrated by the position of French-language literature written at the end of the 19th century by Flemings.

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.

At the age of 75, Flemish roots rocker Roland Van Campenhout still plays in the sandpit.

Erasmus was a man with great ambitions and who took orders from no one. But his succes also had its drawbacks, unveils a new biography.

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

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

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

Over the centuries, many Dutch people have contributed to Asian culture and society in various ways.

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

Was the Dutch writer really such an anti-colonial rebel? And what about his preference for young girls?

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

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.

Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, initiated a dynasty that would change the Low Countries forever.

After the First World War, architect Huib Hoste helped rebuild the Flemish Westhoek. But his innovative ideas quickly clashed with residents and their yearning for the past.

De Keyser was a celebrity in Britain and in his native Belgium. He once owned the biggest hotel in London.

'Angels of Amsterdam' is a virtual reality experience based on the true stories of four 17th century women fighting for their rights.

What makes you a mother? Fen Verstappen looks for answers in her touching debut novel ‘Moeder af’.

The proverbial rivalry between the two football teams from Bruges dates back to the end of the 19th century.

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

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

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 the many exhibitions, events and conferences organised in 2019, we gained new insights about Rembrandt.

In 1302, an unexpected victory of an untrained Flemish infantry militia over a professional force of French cavalry ended the French annexation of the County of Flanders.

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

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

How can we counteract the decline in reading, especially among young people? Former publisher Henk Pröpper has a message for politicians.

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.

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

Confronted with challenging societal, historical and ethical questions, many museums are trying to redefine their role. MSK Director Manfred Sellink makes some proposals.

Since the 1980s improvisational theatre has seen an impressive uptake, in the Netherlands and Belgium. The competitive nature ensures improv’s lasting popularity.

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?

Luc Devoldere states that we have no choice in Europe, but to become as multilingual as possible.

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

Artificial Intelligence opens new ways for language research. You can programme a bot to write sonnets like Shakespeare, and one day we might be able to converse with someone from the 16th century.

With the Congo Commission, Belgium took a different path from the Netherlands, which had its colonial past in Indonesia investigated by three institutes. What does this mean for dealing with a fraught history?

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

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

Remembrance has replaced history as the dominant way of working through our feelings about the Second World War.

Linguist and Professor of Dutch Marc van Oostendorp debunks the consensus that Dutch would be a pluricentric language.

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

How do we have to treat books that have fallen out of favour or have become taboo due to a changing Zeitgeist and more progressive perceptions?

Jacoba of Bavaria, Countess of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland, was a strong leader but went down with power-hungry men, even from her own family.

According to historian Benjamin Kaplan, the new English translation of the most read Dutch history book will attract new generations of readers.

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.

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.

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.

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

Dutch athlete Foekje Dillema was suspended for life because she was supposedly not really a woman.

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

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.

The third stage of our cycling trip on the Via Belgica takes us from Liberchies to Heerlen.

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.

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.

A new exhibition and publication zoom in on the wartime memories of the internationally award-winning Belgian filmmaker and animator Raoul Servais (1928-2023).

In our book 'Standing Tall in Babel. Languages in Europe' (2007) Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk wrote an essay on her mother tongue, Polish. Or is it her father tongue?

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

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.

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

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

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.

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'.

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

Flanders' most colourful and most cosmopolitan rocker turned 70.

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

In the early 1400s, an English army with longbows, a mad dog and a treacherous bridge would once again make the future of the Low Countries uncertain.

From his celebrated self-portraits to dreamlike scenes of the North Sea coast, a major exhibition in London will introduce UK audiences to the visionary work of Flemish artist Léon Spilliaert.