After Nature. Beauty and Decay, from Savery to Today
Autumn exhibition
Follow in the footsteps of Roelant Savery and step into a world that enchants, blossoms and burns.
Marking the 450th anniversary of Roelant Savery (1576–1639), more than twenty masterpieces by this Kortrijk-born painter enter into dialogue with contemporary art. From imaginary landscapes and lush animal scenes to endangered species and exhausted ecosystems: depicting nature is a timeless pursuit, yet more urgent today than ever.
Set off on an expedition through the exhibition: dive into a dialogue between Roelant Savery and young Kortrijk-based artist Bram Demunter, two creators of wondrous worlds, four centuries apart. Discover surprising echoes of Savery in the work of 35 artists from Belgium and abroad, who use humour, poetry and provocative questions to challenge how we look at plants, animals and landscapes. Let yourself be moved by Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz's monumental rollercoaster in the Chapel: a poetic ode to nature's eternal cycle.
Swinging between beauty and decay, After Nature tells a story that is both timeless and urgently topical, carrying within it a tentative hope for renewal.
Bram Demunter in dialogue with Roelant Savery
Along the route, the meeting between two masters from Kortrijk, four centuries apart, marks a remarkable stop.
With a keen eye for detail and an insatiable curiosity, Roelant Savery and Bram Demunter each bring together, in their own way, plants and animals, landscapes and figures, mythological references and personal memories into wondrous worlds that could never exist in time or space.
After Nature leaves you with a rollercoaster of impressions
In the Abby Chapel, Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz present a spectacular wooden structure that winds through the space like a rollercoaster. Its endless motion embodies the cycles of decay and renewal, and the fragility and resilience of societies and ecosystems alike.
After Nature invites you to look with fresh eyes at the world around us, and at the way artists give it shape.
Featuring work by
Ruth Aerts, Younes Baba-Ali, Nienke Baeckelandt, Veronika Bezdenejnykh, Bianca Bondi, Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz, Louise Bourgeois, Aline Bouvy, Mat Collishaw, Caroline Coolen, Charles Degeyter, Louise Delanghe, Bram Demunter, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Kasper De Vos, Ritsart Gobyn, Anna Godzina, Victoria Iranzo, patricia kaersenhout, Gideon Kiefer, Friedrich Kunath, Tim Lewis, Simon Masschelein, Rob MacInnis, Otobong Nkanga, Marieke Pauwels, Tom Poelmans, Antoine Roegiers, Reena Saini Kallat, Roelant Savery, Guy Slabbinck, Helga Stentzel, Leendert Van Accoleyen, Floris Van Look, Eline Vansteenkiste, Simon Verheylesonne, Dittmar Viane and Pei-Hsuan Wang.
After Nature. Beauty and Decay, from Savery to Today is curated by Sarah Keymeulen and Thijs Dekeukeleire, together with co-curator Laurens Mariën.
Header photo: Antoine Roegiers, Le témoin silencieux, 2025, courtesy of the artist and Keteleer Gallery.
Plant a forest with Abby and Natuurpunt!
Abby is joining forces with Natuurpunt to plant 1,000 m² of new woodland, equivalent to around 200 trees. That’s the same size as the total area of our exhibition spaces.
Discover Roelant Savery in our collection
