Sinterklaas arrives....

(Catching up with my blipfotos once again.....)

Saturday 15th November saw the beginning of the annual controversy-fest that is the arrival of Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Pieten in the Netherlands.

For the uninitiated, a few facts...

- Sinterklaas is a traditional winter holiday figure still celebrated in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg,
- Accompanying 'Sint' is Zwarte Piet - or rather several hundred Zwarte Pieten nowadays (and if you're familiar with Dutch, you'll know that this translates as 'Black Pete')
- Every November, Sinterklaas travels from his home in Spain, by steamboat, to the Netherlands, bringing presents and special treats for the children. For Dutch children, the period between Sinterklaas' arrival (the Intocht in mid November) and 5th December (Pakjesavond, literally "packages evening") is the big winter celebration (and present fest!).

I can't go into the controversy issue too much (as blipfoto doesn't really give me the space to do so), but suffice to say that the photo is of the girls with one of the Zwarte Pieten. And yes, Zwarte Piet is a person who has been blacked up.

The knee jerk reaction, from many expats, is to condemn this part of Dutch culture as being outdated and racist. The riposte from many Dutch is that (and I quote from the website iamexpat.nl) "Zwarte Piet should more correctly be regarded as a valued part of Dutch cultural heritage and that racist meanings were not inherent to the event, but rather projected onto it by external parties drawing on disjointed racial histories."

To the children, the Zwarte Pieten are beloved, colourful figures (literally - they wear brightly coloured, velvet, medieval type costumes) who dance about, having fun, handing out sweets, having their photo taken, playing musical instruments in the parade and who are an intrinsic part of the whole spectacle. It is also Zwarte Piet who climbs down the chimneys at night and puts sweets and gifts into the shoes of the children.

Before anyone should judge (either way) all I would say is that, as a guest, in a host country, this sort of event makes you very aware that you are exactly that...a temporary resident. The complexities of this sort of thing are never easily explained and who am I to question and judge something, according to a prism I may look through (and in my case, it is the extremely carefully, politically correct prism of the UK). If you are interested in this issue, the aforementioned website, "iamexpat.nl" gives a very balanced discussion. Or you could go to the UN website...the issue has been debated in very lofty circles indeed! Watch this space. Who knows what will happen to Zwarte Piet in future years.