Faith No More. Rituals for Uncertain Times

An exhibition about apocalyptic thinking, despair, hope, and consolation in the Middle Ages and today, featuring live work by Tino Sehgal in de Kapel and works by Marina Abramović, Francis Alÿs, Joseph Beuys, Michaël Borremans, Miriam Cahn, Lucas Cranach I, Thierry De Cordier, Albrecht Dürer, Marlene Dumas and many others in the galleries.

We are living in uncertain times. Climate change, wars, tensions between countries, rapid technological shifts and social unrest leave many feeling lost. At times, it seems as though we are sliding into an apocalyptic vision of the future. This echoes the late Middle Ages, when people saw their world as chaotic, threatening and unstable — and surrendered to higher powers in search of guidance.



For centuries, religion offered a framework to understand life. It provided direction and comfort, but also imposed dogmas and exclusion. Faith was the way to create order in an often incomprehensible reality. Today, that self-evident role of religion has largely disappeared. We live in a secular and fragmented society. Where do we now find new forms of grounding, connection and hope? How do we give our fears and desires a place?



This exhibition departs from that search. It shows how artists, past and present, grapple with uncertainty and fear, how they shape grand narratives and intimate rituals, and how art can offer new perspectives for collective grounding. Perhaps the key to our time lies not in ready-made answers, but in searching, experiencing, and imagining together what it means to be human in a world full of change.



Descend into the underground galleries and immerse yourself in late medieval and contemporary art about doom and dawn, despair and consolation. Above ground, in de Kapel, live work by Tino Sehgal awaits you — a transitional ritual between the world inside and the world outside. A sensory and emotionally charged experience that cannot be captured on camera: what remains is only your memory — intimate, temporary, and unrepeatable.



Faith No More. Rituals for Uncertain Times is curated by Sarah Keymeulen and Klara Rowaert in collaboration with co-curator Kendell Geers. The exhibition includes works by Marina Abramović, Jane Alexander, Francis Alÿs, Ghada Amer, Alice Anderson, Marcella Barcelló, Joseph Beuys, Bianca Bondi, Michaël Borremans, Ricardo Brey, Apollinaria Broche, Miriam Cahn, Erasmus Causse, Félix Clouet, Lucas Cranach I, Cornelius de Bourgondia, Thierry De Cordier, Paul Delvaux, Otto Dix, Gino de Domenicis, Edith Dekyndt, Bernaerd De Rijckere, Herwig Driesschaert, Marlene Dumas, Victor Ehikhamenor, James Ensor, Michel François, Maxim Frank, Kendell Geers, John Giorno, Jeppe Hein, Carsten Höller, Kubra Khademi, Joachim Koester, Thomas Lerooy, Man Ray, Antoine Roegiers, Quinten Massijs, Tony Matelli, Hollie Miller, Shirin Neshat, Hermann Nitsch, Irving Penn, Leonard Pongo, Fabrice Samyn, Tino Sehgal, Marinella Senatore, Studio DRIFT, Mircea Suciu, Luc Tuymans, Philippe Vandenberg, Joris Van de Moortel, Giovany Vanhoenacker, Klaus Verscheure, Mark Wallinger and Cindy Wright, alongside prints by, among others, Pieter Bruegel I, Albrecht Dürer, Theodoor Galle, Rembrandt van Rijn and Hieronymus Wierix.



The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive programme of concerts, performances, workshops and events. All information and tickets via www.abbykortrijk.be/en/visit/calendar.