Artist Kris Martin has assembled a group of ten contemporary Belgian artists at Laarne Castle, under the name NADIR. In astronomy, the nadir (from the Arabic nathir meaning ‘opposite’) is the point directly opposite the zenith and thus immediately below the observer. Martin sees it as a metaphor: NADIR is about looking at what is there, about going to the core. He decided to bring the cream of the Belgian art scene together in a group exhibition: each one an artist who has shaped and influenced Martin as both an artist and a human being. His personal pantheon, as it were. Hence the enigmatic image that accompanies the exhibition: a satellite photograph taken directly above the Pantheon in Rome.
 
The participating artists – Francis Alÿs, Thomas Bogaert, Michaël Borremans, Dirk Braeckman, David Claerbout, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Wim Delvoye, Kris Martin, Daniël Ost, Matthieu Ronsse, D.D. Trans and Jan Van Imschoot – were each inspired by their personal nadir, and in many cases created new work especially for this exhibition.