Welcome to my Blog!
I hope to share here my irrepressible thoughts on news, music, books, arts, history, cultural events and such like.
In general these will be items, events and issues which I feel have no place on my website (which focusses on aviation history and my travel photography).

The item immediately below this would be the latest posting.

"Anybody, providing he knows how to be amusing, has the right to talk about himself. - Charles Baudelaire
Esse est percipi (To be is to be perceived)" ¬Bishop George Berkeley

"Not even I understand everything I am" ¬Aurelius Augustinus of Hippo

"I'm only myself in front of my typewriter" ¬Joan Didion (I'd replace 'typewriter' by 'desktop PC'..)
"I always think that the quickest way to understand someone is to look at what's on their bookshelfes." ¬Matt Haig

In 2013 I started a series of photo albums on Blurb.com, named '36Exp' (a subject adressed in 36 exposures, a reference to the exposures on most common rolls of 35 mm film: 12, 24 & 36.) back in the day.
The books can be ordered directly from the Blurb.com or Amazon.
www.blurb.com/user/ruudleeuw

CURRENT BLOG

In 2026 VAASAQUA celebrated a special milestone: 30 years of Vaasaqua! Wow!
Vaasaqua has been THE event on Ascension Day for 30 years. For this anniversary edition, they were going all out, with a day full of atmosphere, fun, and conviviality.

www.vaasaqua.nl/ (NL)
See also MY STREETPHOTOGRAPHY

This collection of striking color images from the American West is both a moving national portrait as well as a celebration of analog color photography.
The photographer behind Life magazine’s first ever all-color photographic essay, Ernst Haas made—and captured—history as an early adopter of Kodachrome film.
The Austrian-born artist had already established himself as a black and white photographer when he moved to America in 1951. But as a member of the renowned Magnum agency, he transformed the genre with his color-saturated images, the perfect medium for capturing America’s geographic and cultural landscapes.
From desert storms, Route 66 gas stations, and Las Vegas neon to rolling prairie, dilapidated farms, small-town parades, and city sidewalks, Haas’ perfectly composed images, contain a distinct pictorial language, suffused with poetry, pattern, and light.

During the 1970s-1990s I enjoyed travel in the United States, for Western subjects (as this book) and the space one has, associating it with American freedom. With Trump in power (leading up to it his first term) my interest evaporated. I bought this book mainly for Ernst Haas' photography, I did not have a book yet by him in my bookcase.

Ernst Haas (b.02Mar1921 – d.12Sep1986) was an Austrian-American photojournalist and color photographer.
Haas was raised in the cultural climate of Vienna (Austria) before World War II. His parents, who placed great value upon education and the arts, encouraged his creative pursuits from an early age.
From 1935 to 1938, Haas attended LEH Grinzing, a private school in Vienna, where he studied art, literature, poetry, philosophy, and science. His formal education was interrupted in 1938, when the school was closed following Germany's invasion of Austria.
Haas was sent to a German army labor camp, working six hours a day in exchange for two daily hours of school attendance. He left the service in 1940 and returned to Vienna to study medicine. Haas was only able to complete one year of medical school before he was forced out as a result of his Jewish ancestry.
Unsure of his career path, Haas realized that photography could provide both a means of support and a vehicle for communicating his ideas. He obtained his first camera in 1946, at the age of 25, trading a 20-pound block of margarine for a Rolleiflex on the Vienna black market...
Haas obtained assignments from magazines like Heute, often working with fellow correspondent Inge Morath.
Upon reviewing his work, Capa invited Haas to travel to Paris and join the international photographic cooperative Magnum Photos, then two years old.
Visas to the United States were difficult to obtain, but in 1950 Robert Capa appointed him Magnum's U.S. vice president. With this position, Haas was able to obtain the proper documentation, and he arrived in New York in May of that year. The first images Haas took in the United States showed fellow immigrants arriving at Ellis Island.
While Haas would continue traveling for his work, he lived the rest of his life in New York City.

During his 40-year career Haas trod the line between photojournalism and art photography. In addition to his coverage of events around the globe after World War II Haas was an early innovator in color photography.

en.wikipedia.org:_Ernst_Haas
www.photobookstore.nl/ /ernst-haas-the-american-west
ernst-haas.com

Ultima Thule – the end of the world. That was what Spitsbergen used to be called, the northernmost group of islands in the Arctic Ocean.
Simone Sassen (photography) and Cees Nooteboom (essay) describe in Ultima Thule a journey to that place and to the former Russian coal mining town of Pyramiden. These are romantic views of lonely landscapes without notable vegetation, of peatlands, glaciers, mountains, eternal ice, fjords.

Then, like a mirage, the silence of an abandoned town: shuttered factories, abandoned homes, a former post office, desolate playgrounds and sports fields.
Traces of a past gold rush spirit and of urban life in the eternal ice.
The color photographs by Simone Sassen and the text by Cees Nooteboom capture the 'end of the world,' as it unfolded in Pyramiden, in a fascinating way – images of a past whose shadows fall over our future.

Cees Nooteboom (1933-2026) is considered one of the most important Dutch writers.
He wrote reports and travel stories for, among others, Het Parool, Elsevier, and de Volkskrant. From 1968 onwards, he found his own place at the glossy magazine Avenue.
In 1963, his travel stories were collected under the title 'Een middag in Bruay,' followed by 'Een nacht in Tunesië' (1965) and 'Een avond in Isfahan' (1978).
With 'Rituelen' (1980, F. Bordewijk Prize and the American Pegasus Prize for the best non-American novel), Nooteboom broke through to the general public.

NU.nl: (translated by Google): 22 Dec 2016 at 1:15 PM Cees Nooteboom is married!
The 83-year-old writer gave his wedding vows on Wednesday to photographer Simone Sassen, whom he met in 1979.
This was reported by the radio program Nooit meer slapen, where Nooteboom was a guest last night. Nooteboom is considered one of the most important Dutch writers. He has long been seen as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
His novels and literary travelogues have been translated into many languages. He received the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 2003, the P.C. Hooft Prize in 2004, and the Dutch Literature Prize in 2009. Nooteboom writes novels, travelogues, and art commentaries.
The author was married to Fanny Lichtveld from 1957 to 1964.

Simone Sassen and & Cees Nooteboom, her husband

Photo: Giorgio von Arb
www.hpdetijd.nl/cultuur-media/ - - - /cees-nooteboom-kluizenaar-en-kosmopoliet (NL)

Simone Sassen is a photographer whose photos, taken mostly on her trips, have been exhibited both
in her home country (The Netherlands) and elsewhere (Germany, Spain, etc.). Among other things,
her photos illustrate the books written by her husband, Cees Nooteboom, the acclaimed Dutch author.

kaitphotography.com.au/s-photography/simone-sassen-photography

EN: A LOOK IN THE SOUL OF JAPAN
Uitgeverij Balans, 1st print 2021/2nd print 2025

When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared at the Olympic Games in Rio dressed as the comic character Super Mario, it was clear to the whole world: times have changed in Japan.
The always so closed-off country, which for centuries has cherished its own culture and traditions, is opening up to the outside world. Because the economy has been sluggish for some time, tourists must provide a solution. 'A new Japanese era' has arrived, according to Abe.
But did it?

Could it be true? Has a new Japan really emerged that embraces the outside world..?
The old culture and traditions seem to be transformed at bullet train speed into a hypermodern, global society. In the Olympic year 2020, forty million foreign visitors are expected in Japan, almost five times as many as in 2010. Mission accomplished, it seems...

But behind the campaign for the Olympic Games, in the hidden ramen restaurants and sushi shops of Tokyo, in the countryside, in the world of sumo wrestlers, and in many other places, Japan expert Freek Vossenaar also encountered major challenges and obstacles: difficult relations with neighboring countries, aging population, the subordinate position of women.
The celebrated harmony and admired traditions, which were once such binding forces, cannot simply be set aside.
In the world behind official politics, it quickly becomes clear that the Japanese past is not easily driven away.

athenaeumscheltema.nl/a/freek-vossenaar/kijken-in-de-ziel-van-japan

Marino Marini by Herbert List, 1951

Marino Marini @Getty Center (California, 2018 - MY REPORT)
Since work by Marini on Wikipedia is not listed with the Getty Center I do suppose
this work has moved between 2018-2022 to Venice.

Marino Marini at Guggenheim Venice (my visit Venezia, 2022)

In the recently discussed 'Italien' by Herbert List there was this photo by List of Marino Marini (Milan, 1951).
I had come across his work in the Getty Center (LA, 2018) and also in Venice (www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/) in 2022.
Wikipedia: Marino Marini (b.27Feb1901 – 06Aug1980) was an Italian sculptor and educator.
He attended the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence in 1917.
Although he never abandoned painting, Marini devoted himself primarily to sculpture from about 1922. From this time his work was influenced by Etruscan art and the sculpture of Arturo Martini.
Marini succeeded Martini as professor at the Scuola d’Arte di Villa Reale in Monza, near Milan, in 1929, a position he retained until 1940. During this period, Marini traveled frequently to Paris, where he associated with Massimo Campigli, Giorgio de Chirico, Alberto Magnelli.

He participated in the 'Twentieth-Century Italian Art' show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1944.
On his return to Europe, he stopped in London, where the Hanover Gallery had organized a solo show of his work, and there met Henry Moore.
In 1973 a permanent installation of his work opened at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan, and in 1978 a Marini show was presented at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.
There is a museum dedicated to his work in Florence in the former church of San Pancrazio.

en.wikipedia.org:_Marino_Marini_(sculptor)

In 2017, Marianna Zampieri addressed the Venetians directly, receiving numerous reports and wide and unexpected enthusiasm for the idea of a project in which the photographs are correlated by a description of the cat portrayed, which explains a little about its history and personality.
The idea was born from the reports received: in most cases they were not just cats but 'famous' cats with their own name and a particular area of 'competence'.

There is a fascinating intertwining of stories, personalities, decisions and freedom that these cats tell that represents the great beauty of this project. All enriched by the respect and pride with which Venetians tell and welcome their cats.
The stylistic choice of black and white photography manages to "clean" them of distractions, making the emotions more alive and giving the right emphasis to the subject of the photo which, in this case, has the luck of a timeless background like Venice.

www.mariannazampieri.it

Herbert List (b.07Oct1903 – d.04April1975) was a German photographer, who worked for magazines, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Life, and was associated with Magnum Photos.
His austere, classically posed black-and-white compositions, particularly his homoerotic male nudes, taken in Italy and Greece being influential in modern photography and contemporary fashion photography.

Born in 1903 into a prosperous mercantile family in Hamburg, Germany, Herbert List’s work combined a love of photography with a fascination for surrealism and classicism.
He began an apprenticeship at a Heidelberg coffee dealer in 1921 while studying literature and art history at Heidelberg University.
While traveling for the coffee business between 1924–28, the young List began to take photographs, almost without any pretensions to art. List developed his style and technical abilities by capturing still lifes and portraits.
In 1930, he was introduced to the Rolleiflex camera, which allowed him to make deliberate compositions. Though List was completely self-taught, his friendship with Andreas Feininger brought him to the next level. After purchasing the very expensive Rolleiflex, List had Feininger visit from the Bauhaus School to teach him how to use it.

Leaving Germany in 1936 as the Nazis rose to power, List briefly pursued photography as a profession in London and Paris, where he was referred to Harper’s Bazaar. 
Dissatisfied with the challenges of fashion photography, List instead focused on studio compositions, many reminiscent of paintings by Max Ernst and Giorgio de Chirico. List always referred to himself as an amateur photographer. He pursued the art not to take on editorial assignments but out of a passion for the medium.

Despite his attempts to evade the war in Athens, List was forced to return to Germany in 1941. Because of his Jewish background, he was forbidden to publish or officially work in Germany, and several of his works stored in Paris have been lost.

In 1951, List met Robert Capa, who convinced him to work as a contributor to Magnum. From 1950 to 1961, he focused on Italy.
Early on in this period, he discovered the 35mm camera and telephoto lens.
Influenced by his Magnum colleague Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Italian Neorealism film movement, his work became more spontaneous. In the following years, he completed several books.
By the time he died in Munich in 1975, List’s photographs had been almost forgotten.
Thanks to a monograph published by Schirmer Mosel and numerous exhibitions, his work has seen a revived interest.

en.wikipedia.org:_Herbert_List
www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/herbert-list/

On May 2 & 3 (2026) the Medieval Festival Cannenburch took place. It was the 10th edition.
May 3d was our first visit to this event. A revisit is certainly in the books!
The event is fun for the young and old. To be enjoyed were interactive demonstrations of various medieval shows. Think of knight fights, archers in action, storytellers, musicians, and much more.
We also browsed the historical (so to speak) market, something for everyone!

The castle was built on the remains of an earlier castle, the earliest mention of which dates back to 1365. Traces of this earlier fortified house can still be seen in the cellar of the current castle.
In 1543, De Cannenburch became the property of Marshal Maarten van Rossum. He had the ruins rebuilt into a stately castle, introducing the Renaissance style to Gelderland.
However, he died in 1555 before the castle was completed. His successor, Hendrik van Isendoorn, finished the construction.

www.middeleeuws-festijn.nl/ - /cannenburch/
more photos of this event on www.flickr.com/photos/

Gianni Berengo Gardin (b.10Oct1930 – 06Aug2025) was an Italian photographer who concentrated on reportage and editorial work, but whose career as a photographer also encompassed book illustration and advertising.
Quoted as "Undoubtedly the most important photographer in Italy in the latter part of the 20th century". For more than 50 years Gianni Berengo Gardin has been taking photographs with the humility and passion of a great craftsman.

Born in Santa Margherita Ligure on 10 October 1930, Berengo Gardin lived in Switzerland, Rome, Paris, and Venice before starting as an amateur photographer in 1954.
As a photographer, he was self-taught, learning photography from the 2 years he spent in Paris working with other photographers.

In Berengo Gardin's first year as a photographer, 1954, his first photographs were published in Il Mondo.

He turned professional in 1962 and two years later moved to Milan, where he lived from 1975 onwards.
From 1990, Berengo Gardin was represented by Contrasto. He remained active in his eighties, he had a large archive, with over 1.5 million negatives.
Berengo Gardin named as influences on him the French photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Willy Ronis, Édouard Boubat and Robert Doisneau.

EN.wikipedia.org:_Gianni_Berengo_Gardin

Pasar malam is a Malay word that literally means "night market" (the word pasar comes from bazaar in Persian.
A pasar malam is a street market in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore that opens in the evening, usually in residential neighbourhoods.
These markets are culturally very similar to night markets in Asian countries such as China (Nanluoguxiang, Shuang'an Night Markets), Thailand (Chatuchak Market), Taiwan (Shilin Market), Vietnam (Hanoi's Old Quarter), South Korea (Namdaemum Market) and India (Mangal Bazaar).

Yesterday we tasted, experienced, and enjoyed Indonesian atmospheres. Here in the Triavium Hall @Nijmegen people can experience three days (1-2-3May) full of culture, music, and flavors during the Pasar Malam Asia.

en.wikipedia.org:_Pasar_malam
www.pasarmalamasia.nl
More photos @www.flickr.com/photos/

King's Day 2026 was a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands that took place on Monday, April 27th.
The holiday was in honor of the birthday of King Willem-Alexander, who turned 59 on this day.
The royal family made the annual visit on King's Day to the Frisian city of Dokkum in the municipality of Noardeast-Fryslân. Each year a new destination is being selected. Dokkum went all out and made a great day of it for the Royal Family.
We went to the freemarket in Velp (GLD).

NL.wikipedia.org:_Koningsdag_2026
See also my streetphotos B&W | Colour

Julia Kochetova (b.1993-) is a Ukrainian photographer and documentary maker, based in Kyiv.

Kochetova studied journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University (UA) and the Mohyla School of Journalism (UA), and also participated in the IDFAcademy (NL).
She regularly works for media such as The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Vice News, Zeit, and Bloomberg.
In 2023, Kochetova won an Emmy Award (Vice News) and in 2024 her work was awarded by World Press Photo (Global Winner, Open Format).

The title War is Personal refers to Kochetova’s belief that war cannot be understood from a distance: every story has a name, a face, and a body.
From her firsthand experiences, Kochetova brings the visitor close to life on the frontlines, where she explores the fragile boundary between documenting, grieving, and surviving.

www.foam.org/nl/events/julia-kochetova
nos.nl/nieuwsuur/video/ -fotograaf-julia-kochetova (NL)
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/ - /julia-kochetova-photographs-war-ukraine

FOAM presents the exhibition Very Modern and Rather Ugly as a tribute to the oeuvre of the British photographer Martin Parr.

I have several photobooks by him and visited his gallery in Britol in 2023, I love his -in-your-face-photography.
With a selection of his most iconic works, the exhibition celebrates Parr's unmistakable eye, his witty observations of society, and his enduring fascination with the role of photography in everyday life.

Parr is known for his ability to make the ordinary seem strange and the boring interesting.
With his vivid imagery, he transforms banal scenes into sharp reflections on modern society.
Themes such as consumption, cultural identity, tourism, and class form a common thread in his work.

www.foam.org/nl/events/martin-parr
en.wikipedia.org:_Martin_Parr

Sense of an Ending
(translated by Ronald Vlek, Atlas Contact)

'The Sense of an Ending' is narrated by a retired man named Tony Webster, who recalls how he and his clique met Adrian Finn at school and vowed to remain friends for life.
When the past catches up with Tony, he reflects on the paths he and his friends have taken.
In October 2011, 'The Sense of an Ending' was awarded the Booker Prize.

The novel is divided into two parts, entitled 'One' and 'Two'.
The first part begins in the 1960s with four intellectually arrogant school friends, of whom two feature in the remainder of the story: Tony, the narrator, and Adrian, the most precociously intelligent of the four. Towards the end of their school days another boy at the school hangs himself, apparently after getting a girl pregnant.
The four friends discuss the philosophical difficulty of knowing exactly what happened.
Tony acquires a girlfriend, Veronica, at whose family home he spends an awkward weekend. On waking one morning he finds that he and Veronica's mother, Sarah, are alone in the house, and she apologises for her family's behaviour towards him.
Tony's and Veronica's relationship fails. In his final year at university Tony receives a letter from Adrian informing him that he is going out with Veronica. Tony replies to the letter, telling Adrian that in his opinion Veronica was damaged in some way. Some months later he is told that Adrian has taken his own life.

He briefly recounts the following uneventful 40 years of his life until his sixties. Then we have the start of 'Two', which is twice as long as the first.
A lawyer's letter informing him that Veronica's mother has bequeathed him £500 (which Veronica mysteriously calls "blood money") and two documents. These lead him to re-establish contact with Veronica and, after a number of meetings with her, to re-evaluate the story he has narrated in 'One'.

At some point, after e-mail exchanges and brief encounters, she gives Tony the letter he sent to Adrian in his youth. On rereading it, Tony realises how malicious and unpleasant it was and how he has erased this from his memory.
On another meeting she drives him to see a group of learning disabled men being taken for a walk by their careworker, one of whom she points out to him. Tony does not understand the significance of this, she leaves him in a burst of anger.
Tony revisits the location until he is able to relocate the man Veronica showed him in a pub.
Tony recalls the memory of Adrian from the man's facial features. He concludes that this man is probably the son of Veronica and Adrian, he emails Veronica an apology.
Veronica only responds with the reply "You don't get it, but then you never did."
With some additional information, the reader is left to connect the dots.

I have to admit I failed to connect the dots at first, after closing the book; after some rethinking I checked my theory and that 2nd link below seems I was right...

en.wikipedia.org:_The_Sense_of_an_Ending
andrewblackman.net/2012/05/the-sense-of-an-ending-explained/

The Raadhuisplein in Oosterbeek was the setting today of a sustainable trunk market on Sunday, April 12nd.
Lions Club Renkum-Airborne was holding 'From Trunk to Bargain', a market with a wide range of second-hand and handmade items.
Pleased with our purchases!

www.gelderlander.nl/renkum/kofferbakmarkt

Back to 1674 with the imagination of the Siege of the Fortress City of Grave. The Eighty Years' War comes to life.

The old, historic streets of the fortress are filled with crafts, demonstrations, and activities during the event, allowing visitors to feel as if they are in the middle of the historic, distant past.
At the 'Binnenhof' and the 'Hoofdwagt', there is plenty of activity for children. They can practice skills associated with the soldier's life of the 17th century and learn to march under the guidance of the Guard Regiment from Heerlen and also under the leadership of Commander Baroen.
Throughout the city, there are also various cannons to admire, including those from the 'Bergsche Batterij', 'Saluutbatterij Atkins', and 'De Borgerij'.

Impressive indeed was the concluding battle with musket- and cannon fire. Sights to behold!

Historisch Spektakel 1674 - 17e eeuw re-enactors: www.facebook.com/
www.historischspektakelgrave.nl
See also my STREETS updates ('APRIL') Colour and black & white

Visit to Dordrechts Museum, (mainly) for 'Water & Light'.
The Dordrechts Museum, established in 1842, is one of the oldest art museums in The Netherlands. Within Dutch painting, Aelbert Cuyp holds a special place for Joseph Mallord William Turner <b.23April 1775 – d.19Dec1851>, known in his time as William Turner).
He particularly admires Cuyp's light, and his ability to melt the smallest details into the golden atmosphere. As soon as the opportunity arises, Turner travels (1817) to Dordrecht (a.k.a. Dort), Cuyp's birthplace. He will visit it three times.

J.M.W. Turner was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist.
He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings.
His artistic style developed over his lifetime, moving away from Romanticism—bypassing the following rising style of Realism—and, instead, with his later works being a significant precursor of and presaging the later Impressionist and Abstract Art movements that arose in the decades after his death.

www.dordrechtsmuseum.nl/english/
en.wikipedia.org:_J._M._W._Turner

Welcome to the Nederlands Fotomuseum, the Dutch National Museum of Photography, in Rotterdam.
I hadn't visited this new location yet, after they moved to another refurbished warehouse, named 'SANTOS'.
The museum presents work by leading Dutch photographers as well as emerging talents, spanning from the invention of photography around 1839 to the present day.
The museum has amassed a unique collection for more than 25 years. It is estimated the collection will reach 7.5 million photographic objects by 2028.

Built in 1901-1902, the Santos warehouse began life as a warehouse for coffee shipped from the Brazilian port city of Santos. In 2000, it became a national landmark.
Santos was renovated by WDJARCHITECTEN, RENNER HAINKE WIRTH ZIRN ARCHITEKTEN and Burgy Bouwbedrijf.
The architects opted for a clear distinction between the historic structure and the contemporary extension.
They did an amazing job!

NederlandsFotomuseum.nl

Exhibition: Tokyo Tokyo, photography by Richard Koek.
My report of the opening on April 2nd in the presence of the Japanese H.E. Ambassador Michii as well as the Mayor of Leiden.
The exhibition will be open 3 April - 6 September 2026 here at Japanmuseum SieboldHuis in Leiden,NL.

They say that language is the soul of a country – but how do you discover the soul of Tokyo if you do not speak the language? That was the questio Richard Koek was facing.
For Koek, photography became the means to bridge that distance and capture intimacy.
Visiting sumo stables, private homes, and everyday rituals – such as a barber reshaping the topknot of a young wrestler after morning training – he documents small, human moments.
By presenting the familiar from a tender perspective, Koek reveals the shared humanity behind urban life.
For Koek, the soul of the city lies not in exoticism, but in the connections he is able to make with its inhabitants.

Dutch-Argentinean photographer Richard Koek is a visual storyteller.
He shares his love of urban life and the anonymous people that live and work on a day-to-day base.
In 2021 a 2nd edition of his book NEW YORK NEW YORK was published by Terralannoo.
In 2024 TOKYO TOKYO was published by Terralannoo.
He currently shows 13 images from his book New York New York at Terminal 4 of JFK Airport.
As well as his Tokyo Tokyo exhibition now in Leiden,NL.

His sensibility for the complicated life shows in his photos, not so much a decisive moment, but rather an encouragement to viewers to form their own interpretations of his work.

www.sieboldhuis.org/.../tokyo-tokyo-richard-koek/
www.richardkoek.com/about/
More images of this day on Flickr.com

"Naar Indonesië om Indië te vergeten"
Atlas Contact, 2025

The title in Dutch translates as 'The Lied-to Colony – To Indonesia to Forget the Indies'.
Written in a fine literary style by by Michel Maas, 80 years of Indonesian independence on August 17, 2025. A shared colonial history? No, that does not exist.
Yet Michel Maas tries to understand what separates us and what connects us.

An honest and shocking story about boundaries, identity, and the traces of the past. After 80 years of Indonesian independence the author & journalist Michel Maas learns, after 18 years of reporting from the former Dutch colony 'Indië' (as it still exits in the minds of Dutch generations), to confront the Dutch with their colonial past.

Eighty years ago, on 17Aug1945, Indonesia became independent, a date that to this day is not recognized by the Netherlands.
The book invites the reader to travel along to the new country – and to let go of the colonial past, which still resonates in the present.
'De Gelogen Klonie' is a lively, personal, and at the same time penetrating exploration of the complex relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia, seen through the eyes of a journalist who unexpectedly, after a stay of 18 years in modern Indonesia, has to open a new chapter in his life.

With a keen eye for detail, humor, and historical layers, Michel Maas describes not only his own journey from hesitation to acceptance, but also the deep-rooted traces of the colonial past in the Dutch imagination.
With curiosity and wonder, he comes to terms with 'Indië,' the fantasy land that never existed.
The book is thus also an ode to present-day Indonesia as a country of contrasts, beauty, and struggle, illustrated through the colorful figures Maas encountered.

Michel Maas, (b.1954, Roermond), is a Dutch journalist who works for de Volkskrant and the NOS.
After graduating from Gymnasium B at the Bisschoppelijk College Roermond, Maas studied Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam.
In 1986 he became an editor at de Volkskrant. In 1996 he settled as an Eastern Europe correspondent in Budapest and reported on the war in Kosovo.
After living in Indonesia for 18 years, from 2001 as a Southeast Asia correspondent for the NOS and De Volkskrant, he returned to the Netherlands in 2019.

https://kortverhaal.info/ (NL)
NL.wikipedia.org:_Michel_Maas

Federico Povoleri was born in Venice. The legendary journalist, comics copywriter, and writer Alberto Ongaro took him under his wing and trained him in the art of literary comics.
As such, Povoleri worked with artists such as Attilio Micheluzzi and Ivo Pavone, publishing with Universo and Rizzoli, among others. He also collaborated with Walt Disney Italia for several years.
Povoleri studied documentary filmmaking and directs videos of opera and symphony concerts at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
A multiple award-winning photographer, Povoleri teaches screenwriting and film technology at the Artis-tic High School of Venice.

www.teneues.com/en/book/venezia
See also my Il Carnevale 2026 report

Benny Griessel #4 (2013, 'Kobra')

I have no difficulty admitting to reading non-fiction, indeed I love Deon Meyer’s South African thrillers.

In COBRA he brings about fast action with a clever plot. Because Benny ('Benna') Griessel, captain of the Hawks, might be hitting the bottle again, he's lying to his colleagues and his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. And moving in with Alexa may have been too early..
But the guest house bloodbath near Franschhoek was the work of a professional assassin - three victims, three perfect head shots. And it isn't only the inexplicable engraving of a spitting cobra on the shells - and the looming media circus - that's making Griessel very nervous.
Two of the deceased were lean military types. Body guards. Pros.
At the crime scene are signs of a struggle, and too much evidence that someone was kidnapped. Probably a foreigner. But the passport is fake, the British Consulate is playing spy games, and the same assassin goes on a shooting spree at Cape Town's Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.
Then, the shadowy State Security Agency wants to take over the case, and the Hawks has to hunt down a very slick, very smart and very elusive pickpocket to save their pride, while international conspiracies loom around them.

Celebrated as the 'King of South African crime', Deon Meyer is a world-class writer whose page-turning thrillers probe the social and racial complexities of his native country.

www.deonmeyer.com/cobra
www.goodreads.com
en.wikipedia.org:_Deon_Meyer