Artists

Rohini Devasher

Press release

Borrowed Light is the first solo exhibition by Indian artist Rohini Devasher at an Italian institution, presented at MUDEC in Milan together with Deutsche Bank and in collaboration with 24 ORE Cultura. Winner in 2024 of the prestigious international Artist of the Year award that the Bank dedicates to contemporary art, Devasher is featured in a exhibition curated by Britta Färber, Global Head of Art & Culture at Deutsche Bank.

An amateur astronomer as well as an artist, for years she has been carrying out a research practice that explores the intersections between art, science and philosophy, developing projects that bring visual culture, technology and scientific knowledge into dialogue.

Central to her work is the observation of the sky: an ancient and universal gesture that Devasher investigates both from a scientific point of view – through tools and data – and as a cultural and philosophical experience, according to a perspective rooted in the Indian tradition.

Devasher is not only interested in looking at the sky: she is fascinated by the narratives, the stories of people whose lives have been transformed by the starry sky – even across multiple generations – as well as the forms and modes of interaction that arise from their observations, the technologies and tools used, the ideologies and myths that shape observations and perceptions.

This long research, together with the themes and questions that animate it, flows into the exhibition Borrowed Light, which highlights her long-standing commitment to the field of astronomy, where light plays a fundamental role not only as a physical phenomenon but as a real visible trace of the passing of time.

It is no coincidence that the title takes its cue from an architectural term that indicates the light reflected from an adjacent space to illuminate an otherwise dark environment. This image becomes the starting point for reflecting on some central themes of the artist’s work such as impermanence, light and time, but also on knowledge: on what comes to us by reflection from other cultures, eras or tools. Borrowed Lightalso evokes a broader reflection on the perspective from which we observe the sky: each observation is situated, conditioned by the geographical, cultural, linguistic and ideological context of the viewer. 

The exhibition features video installations and wall-mounted works on paper and copper plate, with a display design conceived to evoke cosmic space within the environments of MUDEC Photo: dark walls and dimmed light recall the darkness of the universe, while a site-specific mural visually connects the works to each other, creating a sort of visual constellation.

Borrowed Light is thus a “journey among the stars” that invites us to reflect on our connection with the skies and with what lies beyond, to imagine a common future based on solidarity and empathy.