Rohini Devasher (b. 1978) is an artist whose research-intensive practice examines the intersections between the humanities and the sciences. For Devasher, a close reading of the interplay between site, observer, and observation is key to exploring the relationships between the human and the more-than-human. Spanning video, sound, printmaking, drawing, installation, and other media, her projects illuminate weird, seductive, and entangled worlds.
A longtime amateur astronomer, Devasher collaborates with other astronomers to probe the stories, conversations, and histories of those whose lives have been transformed by the night sky. She investigates the remote and often strange sites where observers gather, along with the forms and modes of interaction that mediate their observations. The theoretical grounding of her work draws from the history of science, philosophy, speculative fiction, and eco-horror.
Her work has been shown at Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, Riyadh (2026); Ishara House, Kochi (2025–2026); Taipei Biennial (2025); Shanghai Biennale (2025); Rubin Museum, New York (2021–2022); Sea Art Festival, Busan (2021); Vienna Academy of Fine Arts (2021); KU[N]ST Leuven City Festival (2021); Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber (2019); Museu d’Art Contemporanide Barcelona (2018); 7th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art (2018); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2016); and the first Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2012).
Devasher was named the 2024 Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year. In 2023, she was a dual resident at Arts at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva, and the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS-TIFR) in Bengaluru. In 2018, she spent 26 days as artist-in-residence on an oil tanker traveling from Fiji to Singapore as part of The Owner’s Cabin Residency Programme.
Devasher holds a BFA in painting from New Delhi’s College of Art and an MFA in printmaking from the Winchester School of Art at the University of Southampton.