When is STUDIO: Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits open?

The exhibition is open from September 3 to November 22, 2026, Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Extended hours until 10 pm apply on the first Wednesday of each month.

What is the cost to visit the exhibition?

Admission to the STUDIO and the exhibition Solarceptors is free.

What content can visitors expect?

A virtual reality installation and an accompanying projection on plant perception, light, environmental reactions, and ecological future will be on display.

Where does the exhibition take place?

STUDIO: Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits takes place at Kunsthalle Mannheim, Friedrichsplatz 4, 68165 Mannheim.

Is there an opening with an artist talk?

The opening took place on September 2, 2026, at 7 PM with an artist talk.

Is the exhibition part of a larger cultural program?

Yes, the exhibition is part of the anniversary program Imagine Futures! for the 75th International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg and was realized in cooperation with the festival.

Discover Solarceptors: How Plants Introduce a New Language of Seeing in Mannheim

Name: STUDIO: Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits
Start: 2026-10-24T10:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-10-24T18:00:00+02:00
Location: Kunsthalle Mannheim

Solarceptors: When Plants Teach Seeing

In the STUDIO of Kunsthalle Mannheim, an immersive experience unfolds with Solarceptors, situated between contemporary media art, bio-art, and scientific research. Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits invite you to perceive the world from the perspective of plants and rearrange familiar notions of seeing, feeling, and knowledge.

Light as Living Perception

A virtual reality installation and an accompanying projection lead into an imagery where flowers do not appear as passive motifs of nature. Light becomes the shaping element, the energy source, and the medium of its own plant perception. The exhibition atmosphere connects digital spaces, scientific data, and a poetic conception of planetary rhythms.

Art, Research, and Ecological Future

The artist duo operates at the intersection of art, science, and technology. As co-founders of the RIXC Center for New Media Culture in Riga, Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits develop immersive works that connect ecological systems, sound, visualization, and extended reality technologies. Solarceptors emerged as part of the artistic research project Plants-Intelligence and approaches the plant world through the means of media art.

A Perspective Shift Beyond Anthropocentrism

The installation ties into Charles Darwin's considerations on the evolution of flowering plants and opens a contemporary discourse on plant intelligence, connectivity, and adaptation. Instead of making humans the measure of all things, the work shifts the view to living organisms that register light, process environmental stimuli, and exist in complex relationships with their surroundings.

Curated Art Experience in STUDIO

The exhibition is developed in cooperation with the 75th International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg and is part of the anniversary program Imagine Futures!. Curated by Julia Katharina Thiemann with support from Alessia Tardivo, the project connects moving images, artistic research, and cultural education. Kunsthalle Mannheim becomes a laboratory for an aesthetic experience in which the future appears not as a technological utopia but as a new form of seeing.

Conclusion: An Exhibition That Transforms Perspectives

STUDIO: Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits promises a focused art experience for anyone interested in media art, ecological issues, and the relationship between humans and nature. The contemplation of the works opens sensual and intellectual access to light, life, and planetary responsibility. A visit to Kunsthalle Mannheim enriches cultural perception and makes visible how art opens new perspectives on the future.