When can the exhibition be visited on November 12, 2026?

The exhibition can be visited on November 12, 2026, starting at 10 a.m. The regular opening hours of the Kunsthalle Mannheim are from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

What does it cost to visit Solarceptors?

Entry to the STUDIO of the Kunsthalle Mannheim is free.

Who developed Solarceptors?

The immersive installation comes from the Latvian artist duo Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits, who work at the intersection of art, science, and new media technologies.

What content does the exhibition convey?

Solarceptors examines how flowering plants perceive light and respond to their environment. The exhibition conveys perspectives from media art, bio-art, plant research, and posthumanism.

Where is the exhibition taking place?

Solarceptors is being shown in the STUDIO of the Kunsthalle Mannheim at Friedrichsplatz 4 in 68165 Mannheim.

How long will Solarceptors be on display in total?

The exhibition runs from September 3 to November 22, 2026.

Solarceptors: Experience Plant Perception as Immersive Art in Mannheim

Name: STUDIO: Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits
Start: 2026-11-12T10:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-11-12T18:00:00+01:00
Location: Kunsthalle Mannheim

Solarceptors: Experience the World from the Plants' Perspective

In the STUDIO of the Kunsthalle Mannheim, the artist duo Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits opens an unusual approach to perceiving nature. The immersive exhibition Solarceptors asks how flowering plants perceive light, react to their environment, and experience their own living world.

An immersive art experience between art, science, and technology

Virtual reality, projection, and scientific research connect to create a sensually experienced installation. Based on 3D scans of real plants and recorded environmental data, a virtual experience space is created in which visitors can take on the perspective of light-perceiving plants.

The exhibition is positioned at the intersection of contemporary media art, bio-art, and posthumanism. Plants appear here not as passive backdrops but as living organisms that are shaped by light, respond to their surroundings, and are connected to the rhythms of our planet.

A shift in perspective with art historical depth

The title Solarceptors refers to plants as beings that perceive light and use it for their growth. The work draws on Charles Darwin's reflections on the mysterious development and diversity of flowering plants and translates them into a contemporary visual language between ecological art, digital aesthetics, and artistic research.

Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits have been working for many years to connect art, science, and new media technologies. As co-founders of the RIXC Center for New Media Culture in Riga, they curate international festivals and publish the series Acoustic Space / Renewable Futures. Their works have been presented in contexts such as Ars Electronica, international biennials, and media art institutions.

Light as material and question for the future

The exhibition atmosphere emerges from light, digital forms, and the overlaying of real research with virtual perception. The installation translates biophysical processes into an aesthetic experience and makes visible how closely human life is connected to plant energy, photosynthesis, and ecological cycles.

The curation in the STUDIO is done in cooperation with the International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg as part of the anniversary program Imagine Futures! and the section Facing New Challenges. Moving images leave the traditional cinema screen and become a walkable, immersive space for thought and perception.

Cultural education through new forms of artwork observation

Solarceptors invites visitors to question familiar notions of intelligence, perception, and the future. The observation of the work connects scientific insights with philosophical questions and opens up an accessible approach to themes of ecological contemporary art. The art experience is aimed at all who want to think about media art, plant research, and visual future concepts together.

Conclusion: An exhibition that changes the view of the world

Visitors can expect a poetic and research-based installation about light, plant intelligence, and non-human perception. Those who want to connect the aesthetic experience of virtual reality with current questions about nature, technology, and ecological future will experience an extraordinary shift in perspective at the Kunsthalle Mannheim. A visit to Solarceptors enriches cultural education and makes it tangible how art can expand our perception.