"Water has always been an important theme in Dutch culture, and after many centuries it remains an art to control it in a country that is situated below sealevel. The Dutch proverb "Het hoofd boven water houden" translated as "keeping your head above the water" besides having the meaning of staying alive, also means surviving financially.
In Feng Shui, the Chinese art of placement, water (of the five primary elements) and the place it has within the interior of a house, represents money and has a significant influence on the prosperity of its inhabitants.
In a pattern that evokes associations with crackle, the waterways of the Netherlands and China are merged together. Rivers, canals and lakes of the two countries blend into each other as a metaphor for the trade in porcelain between the Dutch and the Chinese. This exchange has had a major influence on the development of the "typical Dutch" Delft Blue.
I find this very interesting in a time where it seems that the Netherlands is increasingly closing its borders to foreign influences, while at the same talking a lot about integration."
