Black Sun: Alchemy, Diaspora And Heterotopia

The multiple notions embedded within the 'black sun' – relating to eclipse, transfiguration and alchemy – are explored in this beautifully produced publication conceived by the artist Shezad Dawood.

'Black sun' is a term with multiple meanings; it represents the eclipse of the day, but is also a symbol of esoteric or occult significance used in various belief systems. It is linked to the metaphor ‘dark night of the soul’, which is used to describe a phase in a person’s spiritual life, marked by a sense of loneliness and desolation, and which can be experienced in particular by those who are marginalised by ethnicity, sexuality and displacement.

Accompanying a travelling exhibition at Devi Art Foundation, India, and Arnolfini, UK, this catalogue examines structures that look to deconstruct or displace our everyday modes of seeing. Including works by artists Ayisha Abraham, Tino Sehgal, Wolfgang Tillmans, amongst others, the texts and interviews provide an in-depth exploration of the 'black sun'.