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Live at the Dutch Centre: 24 September 2026. In a public interview Geert Mak will discuss old and new ties between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. He will do this at a place where meaningful encounters between the Netherlands and the UK have taken place for 475 years: the Dutch Church in Austin Friars. Mak will shed light on what we can learn from these old ties and contacts, now that the European dream he wrote about earlier is increasingly under pressure. Has the European dream been shattered or does he see opportunities to keep that dream alive, thanks to the past? Geert Mak is a journalist and historian, and the internationally acclaimed author of In Europe, In America, Amsterdam and The Bridge. He is one of the Netherlands’ bestselling authors, has twice been awarded Historian of the Year and his books have been translated into more than 20 languages. Geert Mak is considered a significant voice in contemporary Dutch literature and historical writing. He has the ability to bring history to life for a wide audience through his compelling storytelling and insightful observations. This public interview will be conducted by journalist Joost van Mierlo and will be followed by a Q&A session.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 9 July 2026 Living in the UK as a Dutch national comes with unique challenges. Some small, some unexpectedly complex. This evening brings clarity, practical guidance, and a look at what the future may hold.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 21 May 2026 In the first decades of the 20th century, Amsterdam was a thriving hub of the international art trade until the German invasion of 1940 changed everything. Many of the art dealers and collectors in and around Amsterdam were Jewish, and their collections were quickly identified and seized to enrich the holdings of the Third Reich and its leaders, including Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler himself. Lost Amsterdam: Portraits of a Vanished World, presented by Christie’s Restitution team, tells the stories of eight Jewish collectors and dealers, from Dutch natives such as the Lierens family to German refugees like the Semmels and Hirschlands, who arrived in Amsterdam after the Nazis rose to power. They lost not only their works of art, but in many cases, their lives. These narratives trace the looting and forced sales of Jewish-owned collections under occupation, and the long, difficult path of recovery and restitution that followed. By revisiting these histories, Lost Amsterdam: Portraits of Vanished World shines a light on a devastating chapter in the art world and the lives it touched.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 21 February 2023 The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United Kingdom, London College of Fashion (UAL) and the Dutch Centre cordially invite you to Technology and Digitalization in the Fashion and Textile Industry: New Routes towards Sustainability. During this hybrid event, we will explore the possibilities for strengthening British-Dutch cooperation in the textile and fashion industry, inspire participants and share best practices in the journey towards a more sustainable and transparent industry. The panel will include Borre Akkersdijk from ByBorre, an Amsterdam-based textile innovation studio, and Mouhannad Al-Sayegh from FlairFashion, an online platform built to bridge the new era of online shopping with emerging designers at the forefront of innovation in design, sustainability and technology. This free event will be a great opportunity for organisations and professionals in the fashion or textiles industry to network.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 28 April 2022 Empire Education and representation of colonialism in the Netherlands, Flanders, and the UK In Europe today, we are increasingly recognising that the past is not simply behind us, but equally around us and part of us: our major cities are built on colonial profits; our societies are culturally and ethnically diverse. And yet, colonial history and how to ‘deal with’ the legacy of empire is one of the most explosive and emotional topics around. The Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom each have their own colonial heritage. What they share is the increasing call to break the silence about what exactly took place and to investigate how the nations’ colonial legacy impact on today’s societies, on the way we talk about our heritage, on what we teach our children. How should we talk about Empire? Have we come to terms with our colonial history? How do we pass on this history to the next generation, in a way that is both honest and inclusive? How do we incorporate our colonial heritage into the way we talk about our regional or national identity today? Does our attitude towards Empire impact on diversity policies and integration strategies? In our panel discussion, experts from the UK, Flanders and the Netherlands will explore how and what young people in their countries / regions learn about Empire, and how the colonial legacy is presented in public life through, for example, exhibitions, festivals, and commemorations. What can we learn from the best practices of the other? Our panel will include: Barbara Esseboom (NL) – Chair 30 June – 1 July Committee, Arnhem Lieven Miguel Kandolo (BE) – Co-Chair Hand in Hand Against Racism, Deputy Coordinator Outreach Work, JES Brussels, and co-author of Yaya na Leki (2020) Adam Duckworth (UK) – Engagement Producer for Young People, National Museums Liverpool We will also hear from students of the University of Sheffield, who have translated the graphic novel Quaco: Life in Slavery by Ineke Mok and Eric Heuvel. Quaco and the website www.quaco.info are an example of a colonial awareness project in the Netherlands aimed at KS3 students. The discussion will be moderated by Dr Henriëtte Louwerse, Director of Studies and Senior Lecturer in Dutch at the University of Sheffield. The event will be recorded and will be available to view free of charge on our YouTube channel from Thursday 28 April, for those not able to join us in person. If you would like to receive the link in your inbox, please sign up by clicking “Watch recording” below. Our thanks to the Nederlandse Taalunie, the University of Sheffield’s Centre for Dutch and Flemish Studies, the UCL Centre for Low Countries Studies and the low countries website for their collaboration and generous sponsorship of this event. Image credit: View of the Town of Paramaribo and Fort Zeelandia, Frederik Jägerschiöld, 1772. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (featured in Quaco: Life in Slavery by Eric Heuvel and Ineke Mok). Inspiring Dreams by Keys of Moon | / keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... www.7medialondon.uk

Live at the Dutch Centre: 23 February 2022 Together with the Dutch Embassy in the UK, the Dutch Centre will host an evening on sustainable fashion in a circular economy. During this event, we will explore the latest developments in Circular Fashion in the UK and the Netherlands. Where do we currently stand? What can we learn from each other and how can we work together? We have a panel of speakers from a variety of different fields talking about sustainability in fashion. Among the speakers, we are proud to welcome: Professor José Teunissen – Dean, School of Design & Technology, London College of Fashion (UK) Orsola de Castro – Founder and Global Creative Director of Fashion Revolution (UK) Sarah Divall – Creative Partner, Hubbub UK (UK) Students of London College of Fashion (UK) Dr Michiel Scheffer – Program Manager Sustainable Textiles, Wageningen University and Research Centre (NL) Hendrickje Schimmel – artist (NL) Mieke Evers – International Sustainability Advisor, Holland Circular Hotspot (NL) We would like to invite you to come and join us at Austin Friars to listen, engage and be inspired. If you are unable to attend in person, you can also watch our livestream of the event. This will be a hybrid event with speakers both at the venue in Austin Friars and online.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 24 November 2021. The discussion will be opened by H.E. Karel van Oosterom, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and moderated by Margaret-Ann Splawn FRGS, Executive Director at the Climate Markets and Investment Association (CMIA). Keynote address by Ingrid Holmes, Executive Director, Green Finance Institute. Panelists will further include: Armand Ferreira, Director Sustainable Finance, ING Group Giel Linthorst, Executive Director at Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) Supriya Sobti, TCFD implementation lead at NatWest Group Tjeerd Krumpelman, Global Head of Advisory, Reporting & Engagement / Group Sustainability at ABN AMRO Other speakers will be announced as they are confirmed. Background The financial sector plays a key role in the road to a greener world. Where governments ratified the Paris Agreement and started to work on policies to bring their economies in line with a 1.5C scenario or a Net Zero trajectory, the private sector has its own, perhaps even larger, role to play in realising the goals set out in Paris. Just after COP26, we will discuss with a panel of banks the practical impact of aligning to a low-carbon trajectory for their portfolios, the methodologies they use and the challenges they face. The financial sector has a unique position due to its contacts with all levels of the economy and a vast range of sectors. This seminar seeks to delve deeper into the practice of Paris Alignment and the challenges and effects that has for banks and their clients.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 15 July 2021 The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam is curating an exhibition on Slavery until 29 August 2021. In this exhibition the focus lies on slavery in the Dutch colonial period. This era spanning 250 years is an integral part of the history of the Netherlands. This exhibition about slavery takes the form of personal and real-life stories rather than abstract concepts. There are stories from Brazil, Suriname, and the Caribbean, and from South African and Asia. Valika Smeulders is the current Head of History at the Rijksmuseum and one of the members of the curatorial team for the Slavery exhibition. She will join us via live connection from Amsterdam to talk to us. Also, joining us is Lecturer in Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art, Esther Chadwick.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 17 June 2021 On 19 March 2020 we were planning for the opening of the exhibition, Chernobyl: Poetic Decay, which had to be postponed due to Covid-19. While we still plan for a the exhibition to take place in London later this year, we have decided to organise an online teaser event on Thursday 17 June. In 2019 Urbex photographers Anita Spooren and Wigo Worsseling travelled to Chernobyl to shoot a series of fascinating pictures of the disaster area, creating an homage to the ghost town Pripjat in the Ukrainian oblast Kiev. Back in the day Pripjat was considered an exemplary Sovjet town with its population of 50.000, but was evacuated after an explosion in the local nuclear power plant on 26 April 1986. The duo visited and explored the so-called ‘exclusion zone’, where they were confronted with the remains of this once thriving town. What they captured is the haste in which the inhabitants had to leave their homes. Curator Maria Kublin, Spooren and Worsseling will give you a sneak peak into the exhibition by zooming in on a few of their works. We will also hear from their guide, Mykhailo Teslenko, who was born in Farbykivka, approximately 50km from the nuclear explosion. His family was evacuated from from their home in 1994 when it became clear it was not safe to live there anymore.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 10 June 2021 Inspired by www.forbiddenmusicregained.org, a website that houses more than 2.000 musical works that were forbidden in WWII, we are organising an event titled: Forgotten Composers. The Dutch initiating foundation, the Leo Smit Stichting, is committed to regain music that was banned during Nazi regime, either because the artists had a Jewish background or because they refused to comply with Nazi rules. The evening will be opened by Eleonore Pameijer, one of Europe’s pre-eminent flutists and representative from the Leo Smit Foundation. She will talk to us about all the wonderful work the foundation is doing in making the lives, work and context of these forgotten composers accessible to all. Then Dutch American violinist Amarins Wierdsma, accompanied by pianist Joseph Havlat, will perform a 30 minute concert, which will include the following pieces: Sonata per Violino e Pianoforte by Lex van Delden (1919 – 1988) Podium-suite pour violin et piano op. 3 by Géza Frid (1904-1989) Arietta by Henriette Bosmans (1895 – 1952) We will finish the evening with a Q&A with Eleonore Pameijer, for which you can submit your question on the night, whether you are at the Dutch Centre or watching the event online from the comfort of your own home.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 27 May 2021 We mark Dutch Liberation Day (5 May) with a screening of the documentary 'Flying Over Polder Lines’. This short film tells the story of the recovery of a WWII aircraft and its British-Canadian crew from a Dutch lake. In the film we learn about how the Dutch polder lines guided the allied pilots on their route to Germany. After the screening, filmmaker Heleen Minderaa and Regional Minister of the Province of Flevoland Michiel Rijsberman will talk about the recovery of the plane and the making of this fascinating documentary.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 30 March 2021 During our lecture titled ‘Not how many, but how well’: Music and the paintings of Johannes Vermeer’, art historian and author Dr. Richard Stemp will take us on a journey along the paintings of this great Dutch master, after which we will be taken back to the time of Vermeer through a musical interlude performed by The Strand Consort and conducted by Joseph Fort. Tickets available here. For an artist as famous as Vermeer, relatively few paintings have survived. This could have to do with the precious nature of his work that makes it stand above that of his more prolific contemporaries. It may simply be that he was a careful painter, making specific choices about the imagery, its precise arrangement, and the considered way in which every surface was painted which led to a measured rate of work. If so, he must have had reasons for including every detail we see, allowing for a wealth of rewarding interpretation. This talk will focus on just one aspect of Vermeer’s work: music. Stemp will consider the ways in which he added the sense of hearing to the sense of sight, and discover the range of moral values that music, and the playing of music, were given in the Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century. After the lecture it’s time for a musical interlude performed by The Strand Consort and conducted by Joseph Fort. The Strand Consort will present a programme of sacred music by the Dutch composer and organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621). Composed in the 1600s, these works remained in circulation throughout the seventeenth century, particularly among the Roman Catholic congregations whose liturgies Vermeer attended. One of the most important composers of the ‘Golden Era’ of music in the Netherlands, Sweelinck’s sacred vocal music is striking for its dynamic rhythms, bold harmonies, and expressive treatment of the text. A selection of his music will be presented during which the Strand Consort will aim to demonstrate its variety and richness. The last part of the evening is a Q&A with Dr. Richard Stemp. We welcome you to submit any questions you my have. You will receive more information about how to access the event and how to submit questions on the day of the event.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 15 March 2021 Speakers: Mr. Karel van Oosterom - Dutch ambassador for the United Kingdom Hedwig Hegtermans - The 3 Million Simone Buitendijk - Vice-chancellor Leeds University Patrick van der Peet - Entrepreneur

Live at the Dutch Centre: 25 Nov 2020. This event was in honour of Selma van de Perre and a celebration of the English launch of her book: My name is Selma. A conversation, chaired by literary translator Amanda Hopkinson with Selma and her co-translators, Anna Asbury and Alice Tetley-Paul (via Zoom). Selma van der Perre has lived an incredible life. Aged 17 when World War Two broke out, she joined the resistance movement and was transported to Ravensbruck concentration camp in 1944. Unlike her mother and sister who both perished in the holocaust, Selma survived by using an alias. Her memoir My Name Is Selma tells the remarkable story of her recovery, which she shares at this very special event.

Live at the Dutch Centre: 23 June 2020 Please note that this is a Dutch spoken event. Over the years we’ve had the pleasure of working with Tim de Wit, NOS Correspondent for the UK and Ireland. Tim’s tenure is now coming to an end and we are delighted to announce that we will be hosting a lunch meeting with Tim and a few fellow journalists Patrick van IJzendoorn (De Volkskrant Correspondent), Anne Saenen (UK Correspondent RTL Nieuws) and Joost van Mierlo (De Telegraaf Correspondent). They will talk about whether the UK has changed in these last years and how they see the future for the Britons.