Palais Populaire

Born in 1978, Indian artist Rohini Devasher’s research-intensive practice explores the boundaries between science, art, and philosophy. She is interested in scientific experiments and new forms of speculative storytelling that encompass both human and non-human life forms. Borrowed Light, Devasher’s first institutional solo exhibition in Germany, is characterized by her long-standing engagement with astronomy, in which light plays a central role.

Borrowed Light is an architectural term referring to reflected light, such as illumination from an adjacent room or moonlight, which originally comes from the sun. The exhibition encourages visitors to consider how astronomers use visible objects to understand invisible phenomena like “dark matter.” This does not emit electromagnetic waves like light and is therefore not visible, but can only be perceived through its gravitational effects on other objects in the universe.

The exhibition’s centerpiece is Devasher’s four-channel film “One Hundred Thousand Suns” (2023). This work examines the geometry of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, as well as the relationship between an astronomical event and the civilizational history of the respective place. The film draws from over 100,000 solar images documented across 120 years at the Kodaikanal Observatory in South India. Through this work, Rohini Devasher illustrates the complexity of “seeing” and the fine line between knowledge and mystery.