This fourteenth yearbook is published by the Flemish-Netherlands Association “Ons Erfdeel vzw”, with the support of the Dutch Ministry o Education, Culture and Science (The Hague) and the Flemish Ministry.

This yearbook seeks to provide a picture of literary, cultural and social life in Flanders and the Netherlands, and is also concerned with the relationships between the English-speaking and Dutch-speaking worlds. Since 1993. 320 pages/full colour

an excerpt from its contents
Out and about with Bruegel
by: Manfred Sellink

Pieter Bruegel the Elder may be seen as one of the few artists who for centuries have played a role in determining the perception and image of Flanders. Whether historically accurate or not, many people – and certainly not only foreigners – still associate the southern Low Countries with the stereotype of ‘Boeren-bruegel’, or ‘Peasant Bruegel’: the world seen as one great gluttonous feast, complete with food, drink and dance, in picturesque, slightly chaotic villages in the countryside. However interesting it may be to speculate about the extent to which the image and the self-image of ‘the’ Fleming flow into each other, in this article I would like to draw attention to a completely different aspect of Bruegel’s work, one that is closer to the historical reality of his time, which can perhaps bring us closer to the figure of the artist, who is often difficult to get a handle on, and which at the same time can also provide us with the necessary information about the artistic and intellectual climate that he lived in. This article follows the artist on his journeys and excursions in Flanders and far beyond.

you may read all contents here

the past.

there beneath the may-trees on warmest of evenings reading on past and disregarded events. moss and its shiny dampness by the dark river and tree roots twisted on worn away banks. the dark soil. black stones taken as forest patches. the day’s wisdom begins to fade into scales of gray pink.

leave now.

I shall go forth alone.

I whispered.