pele SciaSction - new media

NETHERLAND
are Hieronymus Bosch, a painter, and the brothers de
Limbourg, three miniaturists who are most famous for
their work for the Duke of Berry.
Golden Age
In the late 16th century, many painters from Flanders fled
to the Northern Netherlands, for religious reasons and
because the Netherlands were growing economically.
Both regions had a golden age of painting in this period.
The most famous Dutch painter was Rembrandt
Harmenszoon van Rijn, but other painters such as
Johannes Vermeer and Frans Hals are nowadays world
famous as well.
19th and 20th Century
The Dutch artists of the 18th century are less well-known.
The most important paintings were the land- and
seascapes (or marines). Only at the end of the 19th
century did an internationally very important painter,
Vincent Van Gogh, appear.
In the 20th century, the Netherlands produced many fine
painters and artists, including Piet Mondriaan and some
of the members of the COBRA movement, including
Karel Appel and Corneille.
Music and dance
The Netherlands have multiple musical traditions ranging
from folk and dance to classical music and ballet. In the
21st century Dutchmen and women with an African or
Middle Eastern background have also had a profound
effect, most notably in hip hop and rap. Much more so
than most non-English speaking European countries, the
Netherlands has remained closely in tune with American
and British trends ever since the 50's.
Aruba and the five main islands of the Netherlands
Antilles are part of the Lesser Antilles island chain. Their
music is a mixture of native, African and Dutch elements,
and is closely connected with trends from neighboring
islands like Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago and
Guadeloupe, as well as the mainland former Dutch
possession of Suriname, which has exported kaseko
music to great success on the islands. Curacao and
Bonaire likely have the most active and well-known music
scenes. Curacao is known for a kind of music called
tumba, which is named after the conga drums that
accompany it.
Cuisine
Dutch cuisine is characterized by its somewhat limited
diversity; however, it varies greatly from region to region.
The southern regions of the Netherlands for example
share dishes with Flanders and vice versa. Dutch food is
traditionally characterized by the high consumption of
vegetables when compared to the consumption of meat.
Dairy products are also eaten to a great extent, Dutch
cheeses are world renowned with famous cheeses such as
Gouda, Edam and Leiden. Dutch pastry is extremely rich
and is eaten in great quantities. When it comes to
alcoholic beverages wine has long been absent in Dutch
cuisine (but this is changing during the last decades);
traditionally there are many brands of beer and strong
alcoholic liquor such as jenever and brandewijn. The
Dutch have all sorts of pastry and cookies (the word
"cookie" is in fact derived from Dutch), many of them filled
with marzipan, almond and chocolate. A truly huge
amount of different pies and cakes can be found, most
notably in the southern provinces, especially the so called
Limburgish vlaai.
Traditions
One of the most characteric festivities in the Netherlands
is the feast of Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas. It is
celebrated especially in families with little children. In the
United States the original figure of Dutch Sinterklaas has
merged with Father Christmas into Santa Claus. In the
Netherlands, gift-bringing at Christmas has recently
gained some popularity too, but good old Sinterklaas is
unbeatable.
OPEN TRADE 45
Oct-Dec 2007