The Serenity of Madness: A Conversation with Apichatpong Weerasethakul by Gridthiya Gaweewong and Dr. Sing Suwannakij

Saturday, 27 August, 2016, 6- 8 pm

At MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai

For the past twenty years, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s reflexive and non-linear works have explored the themes of memory, animism, Buddhism, haunting and rebirth and have been largely channeled through the narrative traditions of his native Isan region (the northeastern part of Thailand). The stories he conceives are filtered through diverse literary and cinematic genres including science fiction, adventure and myth, as well as the tradition of American experimental film. In his films and visual art works, memory is often juxtaposed with ephemeral and supernatural elements, such as light and phantoms, suggesting a fluidity and distortion in history and storytelling.

The Serenity of Madness has assembled for the first time almost 20 visual artworks to reveal an unseen dimension of Apichatpong’s working process. The exhibition follows a semi-chronological and non-linear approach, beginning with explorations of lighting, time and space both in reality and fantasy, and culminating with recent works that engage with the social reality in his homeland.

Since the opening of the Serenity of Madness in July, we have been very happy to see many friends and the art community viewing the exhibition. Those who are still unclear about Apichatpong's working processes and meanings, and may have left the museum with unanswered questions, are invited to a casual talk between the artist, curator and historian at MAIIAM on August 27, from 6-8 pm.

Apichatpong will speak about his journey both in terms of physical space and the conceptual framework of his artistic practices, which gradually shift from dealing with memory and identity to the private sphere, in a casual dialog with Gridthiya Gaweewong, the curator and his long-term collaborator. She will also speak about the making of this exhibition.

We are also glad to have Dr. Sing Suwannakij of the Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, Chiang Mai University, to comment and reflect on Apichatpong's artworks from the perspective of a spectator with a special interest in history and media studies.

The exhibition will be on view until September 10, 2016.
It is made possible by MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in collaboration with Independent Curators International, USA, with the generous support of the Yanghyun Foundation, South Korea, and in-kind contribution by EPSON, Thailand.

About the artist

Apichatpong Weerasethakul (b.1970) grew up in the northeastern Thai city of Khon Kaen. Hestudied architecture before graduating in film at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997, and currently lives and works in Chiang Mai. With Gridthiya Gaweewong,

he ran the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival in 1999, 2001, 2005, and 2008. In 2005 he was presented with one of Thailand’s most prestigious awards, Silpatorn, by the Thai Ministry of Culture. In 2008, the French Minister of Culture bestowed on him the medal of Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et desletter (Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature). In 2011, he was given another honor in the same field with an Officer Medal. He is the recipient of the Yanghyun Foundation Prize, Korea,(2014) and the Fukuoka Prize, Japan (2013). His film, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His PastLives, won a Palme d’Or prize at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in 2010. Apichatpong has partic-ipated in a number of international exhibitions, including dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel, Germany

in 2012, Sharjah Biennale in UAE in 2013, Liverpool Biennial in 2006, Busan Biennial in 2004, and the Istanbul Biennial in 2001. His works have been presented in art institutions such as Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Redcat, Los Angeles; New Museum, New York; Irish Museum of Modern Art; Musée d’Art Modern de la Ville de Paris; Hangar Bricocca, Milan; and more. In 2016, a retrospective of his films was presented at Tate Britain, UK.

Feature films include: Cemetery of Splendor (2015), Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), Syndromes and a Century (2006), Tropical Malady (2004), The Adventures of IronPussy (2003), Blissfully Yours (2002), and Mysterious Object at Noon (2000).

About the curator

Gridthiya Gaweewong founded arts organization Project 304 in 1996, and is currently an artistic director of the Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok. Her curatorial projects have addressed issues of social transformation confronting artists from Thailand and beyond since the Cold War.
Gaweewong has curated exhibitions and events including Politics of Fun at the Haus der Kulturender Welt, Berlin (2005), the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival (1997–2007), and (with Rirkrit Tiravanija) Saigon Open City in Saigon, Vietnam (2006-07).