- the low countries

The Rijksmuseum has been a major source of inspiration for Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf since his early youth. From 3 July he shows in the Amsterdam museum his photographs in dialogue with Dutch paintings.

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

Amarylis De Gryse got inspired by the painting 'The Company of Captain Albert Bas and Lieutenant Lucas Conijn'. She explores the inner life of a militiaman.

Anne Bosveld wrote a prose poem inspired by a panorama of Cape Town.

Anne Marijn Voorhorst looks at a mustard pot made by Jean Baptiste Claude Odiot around 1819.

Anne-Goaitske Breteler wrote a short story inspired by a letter written in response to the abolition of slavery on the French side of Sint Maarten.

Annemieke Dannenberg gives a voice to a brush used in eighteenth-century incantations.

Babeth Fonchie wrote a poem inspired by old wooden stocks and matching iron shackles.

Bart Decroos wrote a short story inspired by a 1708 drawing by Dirk Valkenburg, entitled ‘View of a Mill and Cook-house on a Plantation in Surinam’.

Betül Sefika was inspired for her visual poem by a rice stalk, which is directly descended from rice seeds that were smuggled from Africa to Suriname by an enslaved woman.

Chris Lomans gives a voice to machetes from the early 19th century that were intended for sugar cane plantations.

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. We join Daan de Jager as he looks at a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh from 1887.

We join Dagmar Bosma as she questions a cabinet made by Charles-Guillaume Diehl in c. 1867 – c. 1880.

The year 2019 marks the 350th anniversary of Rembrandt’s death. Large-scale exhibitions are planned throughout the year.

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Elise Tumba Kiambi wrote a poem in response to Andreas Schelfhout’s painting Farmyard.

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.

Elsbet De Pauw wrote a poem in response to an old painting of a doll house.

Emma Wiersma wrote a poem referencing the oldest existing collection of plants from Suriname.

Together with Emma Zuiderveen we look at the blue in Claude Monet’s 1884 painting La Corniche near Monaco.

Esha Guy Hadjadj gives a voice to a military painting by Cornelis Troost from 1742.

The Rijksmuseum shows the rise of amateur photography in the Netherlands.

Jasmijn Post brings the painting 'The Love Letter' by Johannes Vermeer to life. We listen to a woman whose feelings are restricted by social conventions.

Jens Meijen wrote a poem inspired by a contract from 1706 between a plantation owner and a painter.

Johannes Decat gives a voice to the tally marks in an old cash book for a plantation in Brazil.

Jordi Lammers wrote a letter from the perspective of a mouth-bow.

Jorik Amit Galama wrote a text in response to the painting Farm on the bank of a stream in Gelderland by Wouter Johannes van Troostwijk.

Kenneth Berth created an audio story in response to Louis Moritz’s painting The Music Lesson from 1808.

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

Laure-Anne Vermaercke invites us to take a very close look at the Diorama of the Zeezigt Coffee and Cotton Plantation, made by Gerrit Schouten in c. 1815 – c. 1821.

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

Malika Soudani gives a voice to 'Portrait of a woman' by Frans Hals. ‘I wonder if they called it that because it’s a good title or because they’ve forgotten my name.’

Marie Borremans wrote a poem inspired by a letter from Pieter Mortamer, commander in Luanda, addressed to Johan Maurits, the then governor-general of Dutch Brazil.

We join Marieke Ornelis as she looks at Portrait of a Young Woman, with ‘Puck’ the Dog, painted by Marie-Thérèse Schwartz

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Marte Hoogenboom wrote a dialogue in response to a painting and a sculpture.

Maxine Palit de Jongh presents us with an Erard Frères pianoforte from 1808.

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

Obe Alkema gives the floor to a festoon of fruits and flowers: ‘We’re fruit, flora, authentic. We want to be seen the way Yotam Ottolenghi sees us.’

Pelumi Adejumo gives a voice to a collar from 1689 bearing the coat of arms of William of Orange.

Phaedra Derhore drew a short comic in response to the painting Still Life with Game and a Greek Stele: Allegory of Autumn by Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os from 1818.

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

Visitors to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam can now enjoy The Night Watch in its original form, for the first time in 300 years.

The architect of the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Central Station made an active contribution to the emancipation of the Catholic church in the Netherlands.

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

Sanne Aletta van Otten voices a drip-filter coffee pot from 1816, manufactured by the Diemont company.

Shimanto Reza wrote a letter inspired by a map of the Bay of Bengal from around 1695.

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Sophia Blyden wrote her text in response to a sculpture of Lorenzo Bartolini.

Sumai Yahya gives us a look at an Etruscan vase made by Manufacture Impériale de Sèvres in 1858.

Veneboer wrote a dialogue in response to a portrait of Toussaint Louverture, leader of the Haitian independence movement during the French Revolution.

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

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

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