'TLC: The Low Countries' is a yearbook which aims to inform the English-speaking world about the culture of Flanders and the Netherlands. 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 histroical devlopment in Flanders and the Netherlands. The culture of Flanders and the Netherlands is not an isolated phenomemnonl its development over the centuries has been one of continuous interaction witht he outside world. In consequence the yearbook also pays due attention to 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' contributes to a lively dialogue between differing cultures. This edition focuses on South Africa and its links with the Low Countries. South Africa has links with the Netherlands, or more precisely with the VOC, the Dutch East India Company.
On 6 April 1652 three ships commanded by Jan van Riebeeck landed in Table Bay, where they were to establish a revictualling station for VOC ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope on their way to Batavia. This issue of the yearbook discusses South Africa and the Low Countries: how do they view each other nowadays? A South African writer rides her bike through the flat Flemish countryside and notes down what she sees and what happens to her. A Flemish and a Dutch writer who know and love South Africa give their candid opinion. We think about Common Cultural Heritage that is not always 'shared'. A South African strip-cartoonist is inspired by the clear lines of Tintin. The painter Marlene Dumas has long belonged to the world, but South Africa is still very much alive within her.