The Low Countries. Jaargang 15

[ voorplat]

 

TLC

The Low Countries

arts and society in flanders and the netherlands

[ binnenkant voorplat]

Association

 

This fifteenth yearbook is published by the Flemish-Netherlands Association ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’, with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (The Hague), the Flemish Ministry of Culture (Brussels) and the Provinces of West and East Flanders.

The Association ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’ also publishes the Dutch-language periodical Ons Erfdeel and the French-language periodical Septentrion.

Arts, lettres et culture de Flandre et des Pays-Bas, the-bilingual yearbook De Franse Nederlanden - Les Pays-Bas Français and a series of books in several languages covering various aspects of the culture of the Low Countries.

 

The Board of Directors of ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’

 

President:

Herman Balthazar

 

Managing Director:

Luc Devoldere

 

Directors:

Greetje van den Bergh

Marcel Cockaerts

Jan Desmyter

Bert De Graeve

Mark Leysen

Cecile Maeyaert-Cambien

Frits van Oostrom

Adriaan van der Staay

Ludo Verhoeven

 

Honorary President:

Philip Houben

 

Address of the Editorial Board and the Administration

 

‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’, Murissonstraat 260,

8930 Rekkem, Flanders, Belgium

T +32 56 41 12 01, F +32 56 41 47 07

www.onserfdeel.be, www.onserfdeel.nl

 

Head of Administration:

Bernard Viaene

 

Administrative Secretary:

Adinda Houttekier

 

Aims

 

With The Low Countries, a yearbook founded by Jozef Deleu (Chief Editor from 1993 until 2002), the editors and publisher aim to present to the English-speaking world the culture and society of the Dutch-speaking area which embraces both the Netherlands and also Flanders, the northern part of Belgium.

 

The articles in this yearbook survey the living, contemporary culture of the Low Countries as well as their cultural heritage. In its words and pictures The Low Countries provides information about literature and the arts, but also about broad social and historical developments in Flanders and the Netherlands.

 

The culture of Flanders and the Netherlands is not an isolated phenomenon; its development over the centuries has been one of continuous interaction with the outside world. In consequence the yearbook also pays due attention to the centuries-old continuing cultural interplay between the Low Countries and the world beyond their borders.

 

By drawing attention to the diversity, vitality and international dimension of the culture of Flanders and the Netherlands, The Low Countries hopes to contribute to a lively dialogue between differing cultures.

 

ISSN 0779-5815

ISBN 978-90-75862-90-4

Statutory deposit no. D/2007/3006/1

NUR 600/612

 

Copyright © 2007 ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’

Printed by Die Keure, Bruges, Flanders, Belgium

Design by Luc De Meyer (Die Keure)

 

All rights reserved. No-part-of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

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The Low Countries

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TLC

2007

The Low Countries

ARTS AND SOCIETY IN FLANDERS AND THE NETHERLANDS

 

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15

 

Published by the Flemish-Netherlands Association

Ons Erfdeel vzw

 

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Editorial Board

 

Chief Editor:

Luc Devoldere

 

Deputy Editors:

Dirk Van Assche

Frits Niessen

Reinier Salverda

 

Secretary:

Filip Matthijs

 

Members:

Saskia Bak

Anton Korteweg

Bart Van der Straeten

Hans Vanacker

Advisory Committee

 

E.M. Beekman, Amherst, ma, usa

André Brink, Cape Town, South Africa

Christopher Brown, Oxford, United Kingdom

Bram Buijze, The Hague, The Netherlands

Ian Buruma, London, United Kingdom

Patricia Carson, Ghent, Belgium

Jan Deloof, Zwevegem, Belgium

Theo D'haen, Leuven, Belgium

Bruce C. Donaldson, Melbourne, Australia

Charles Ford, London, United Kingdom

Amy Golahny, Williamsport, pa, usa

Jaap Harskamp, London, United Kingdom

Adrian van den Hoven, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Jonathan Israel, Princeton, nj, usa

Frank Ligtvoet, New York, ny, usa

Gitta Luiten, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Martin Mooij, Capelle a / d IJssel, The Netherlands

Paul R. Sellin, Los Angeles, ca, usa

William Z. Shetter, Bloomington, in, usa

Johan P. Snapper, Berkeley, ca, usa

Kees Snoek, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Paul Vincent, London, United Kingdom

Leo Vroman, Fort Worth, tx, usa

Rudi Wester, Paris, France

John Willemse, Pretoria, South Africa

Michael J. Wintle, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Manfred Wolf, San Francisco, ca, usa

Joanna Woodall, London, United Kingdom

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Contents

	Money Matters
11	Luc Devoldere
	Art Matters (and so does Society)
12	Erik Durnez
	Money is the Dross of the Earth Flemish Clay versus Dutch polder
21	Robbed by a Cheque
	(An Extract from Tom Lanoye's ‘Do It!’)
23	Michel Bakker
	The Aroma of Spices and Gold Traces of Amsterdam's Trading Past
34	The more I get to know humanity, the more I love my dog
	(An Extract from ‘Tea Letters’)
36	Peter Stabel
	Brokering Commerce, Brokering Culture in Medieval Europe
	The Low Countries and the German Hanse
44	A Businessman's Thoughts on Concentration Camps and Capitalism
	(Two Extracts from Hellema's ‘The Wrath of the Wind’)
46	Ewald Pironet
	Are Diamonds Forever?
	Antwerp, World Diamond Centre - but for how much longer?
52	My cheese will is made
	(An Extract from Willem Elsschot's ‘Cheese’)
56	Marc Ruyters
	Artist Seeks Market - and Vice Versa?
64	Stupid People Pay More
	(An Extract from Marja Brouwers' ‘Casino’)

 

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67	Guy Tegenbos
	The Welfare State in the Netherlands and Belgium A Story of Identical Challenges, Different Structures, Identical Instruments... and Jealousy
78	Anything I set my hand to falls to bits
	(An Extract from J.M.H. Berckmans' ‘The Investigation Begins’)
81	Filip Matthijs
	A Not So Splendid Isolation Poverty...but not as we know it
89	It's only a five-minute walk from poverty to wealth
	(An Extract from Frans Pointl's ‘The Rich Have Awkward Sizes’)
94	Saskia Bak
	The Dislocated and Disconcerting World of Aernout Mik
98	Kees Ribbens
	Identity between Diversity and Uncertainty History in Contemporary Society
105	Jo Tollebeek
	Verboeckhoven's Sheep The Rediscovery of Belgium's Nineteenth-Century Painters
112	Frank Hellemans
	The Face and Voice of Flanders Six Family Novels by Erik Vlaminck Six Extracts from Novels by Erik Vlaminck
119	Jaap Harskamp
	An Icicle on a Dutchman's Beard Shakespeare and the Low Countries
129	Dick van Halsema
	The Tale Won't Be Ended The Poetry of J.H. Leopold ‘Birthday Party’ by J.H. Leopold
141	Lieven van den Abeele
	Montage Means Power The Video-Essays of Johan Grimonprez
146	Frank Hellemans
	Clarity of Head and Heart The Enlightened Narrative Art of Arthur Japin An Extract from ‘The Sound of Snow’ by Arthur Japin

 

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155	Hans Ibelings
	The Chief Government Architects of Flanders and the Netherlands
162	Chris Méplon
	Innovation against Forgetting Hella Jongerius' First Steps in Industrial Furniture Design
168	Ernst Vermeulen
	Pierre Audi, More than a Director
174	André de Poorter
	The End of Improvisation Circus in Flanders
182	Dick Douwes
	Islam in the Netherlands
189	Jos Nijhof
	From Poppentje to Jan Turpijn Puppet Theatre in the Low Countries
197	Meryem Kanmaz & Sami Zemni
	Belgium and the Domestication of its Islamic Diaspora
207	David Stroband
	The Pumping and Penetrating Needle Berend Strik's Embroidery Techniques and his Art
218	Henk Pröpper
	Not a Cheerful Science
	The Unrelenting World-Picture of Willem Frederik Hermans
	An Extract from the Preamble to ‘Paranoia’ by Willem Frederik Hermans
227	Huub Wijfjes
	New Directions for Public Broadcasting in Flanders and the Netherlands
239	Kees Snoek
	Stepping Up to the Light The Poetry of Jan Eijkelboom
	Five Poems by Jan Eijkelboom
249	Luc Devoldere
	Aalst: A Flemish Provincial Town like No Other

 

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	Chronicle
	Architecture
260	Marc Dubois
	One and a Half Kilos of Architecture
	A new Guide to Dutch Architecture
	Cultural Policy
261	Theo Hermans
	Virtual Dutch
263	Bart Van der Straeten
	A Dialogue, not a Directive
	A Canon of Dutch History
	Film and Theatre
266	Joost Broeren
	The American Dutchman
	Paul Verhoeven and his ‘Black Book’
267	Mark Cloostermans
	Try Not to Mention David Lynch
	The Provocative Thrills of Abattoir Fermé
269	Erik Martens
	A Budget Holiday in the Middle Ages
	Crusade in Jeans
	History
272	Dirk Van Assche
	Remembering Herbert Hoover
274	Reinier Salverda
	Dutch-Jewish Documents in the Diaspora
	The Coppenhagen Collection in Oxford
276	Herman Balthazar
	The Epic Tale of ‘Father’ Anseele
279	Lucas Ligtenberg
	The Holland Land Company
	Investing in Land in the Nascent United States
	Literature
282	Maarten Asscher
	The Village of Lieve Joris
284	Jos Borré
	A Book Full of Longing
	Tommy Wieringa and ‘Joe Speedboat’

 

[pagina 9]

	Music
286	Didier Wijnants
	Ben Sluijs and the Rehabilitation of the Songbird
	Philosophy and Science
287	Sybe Rispens
	In the Republic of the Learned
	Einstein and the Netherlands
289	Margot Vanderstraeten
	Christine Van Broeckhoven, a Pioneer in Alzheimer's
291	Rob Hartmans
	Virtue Will Undo Us All
	Bernard Mandeville
	Society
293	Bart Dirks
	The City's for Everyone
	Council Elections in Belgium
294	Joris van de Kerkhof
	Dutch Electorate All at Sea
	Visual Arts
296	Nic Peeters
	British Vision
	The Art behind Inspector Morse and Mr Bean Comes to the Low Countries
299	David Stroband
	Perversity, Pleasure and the Boundaries of Our Order
	The Art of Folkert de Jong
303	Nanda van den Berg
	The Sweet Smell of Success
	Viktor & Rolf
306	Filip Matthijs
	Short Takes
318	Contributors
319	Translators