The 63rd Cannes International Film Festival’s prestigious Palme d’Or awardee Apitchapong Weerasethakul will showcase his works in “Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness” at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) from Feb. 17 to May 14.
The artist will present a compilation of the experimental short films and video installations, to include his haunting masterpiece Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, which delves on a singular realist-surrealist style wherein he portrays the everyday alongside supernatural elements suggesting a distortion between fact and folklore, the subconscious and the exposed, and various disparities of power.
Apart from Uncle Boonmee, his feature films include Cemetery of Splendour (2015), Syndromes and a Century (2006), Tropical Malady (2004), The Adventures of Iron Pussy (2003), Blissfully Yours (2002), and Mysterious Object at Noon (2000).
This solo exhibition likewise features his photographs, drawings, sketches and archival material that explore threads of socio-political commentary. His passionate opinions on class, labor, sexuality, science and spirituality have influenced his practice from early on in his career to the present.
Born in 1970 in Bangkok and raised in the northeastern Thai city of Khon Kaen, Weerasethakul works independently in his country’s commercial film industry, and is active in promoting experimental and independent filmmaking through Kick the Machine, which he founded in 1999.
With Gridthiya Gaweewong, he established the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival in 1997.
Weerasethakul’s work has been presented widely in art and film contexts internationally, including the Sharjah Biennial in the UAE (2013), dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel, Germany (2012), Liverpool Biennial (2006), Busan Biennial (2004), the Istanbul Biennial (2001).
He has participated in individual and group exhibitions at art spaces including Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; New Museum, New York; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; and Musée d’Art Modern de la Ville de Paris.
“Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness,” curated by Gaweewong, is produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York. The tour is made possible, in part, with the generous support from MAI IAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai; ICI’s International Forum and the ICI Board of Trustees.
The exhibition is sponsored by Royal Thai Embassy, National Book Store, Craftpoint Brewing Company, Premier Wine & Spirits, Inc., and Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc.
The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design is located at the DLS-CSB School of Design and Arts Campus, Dominga Street, Malate, Manila. It is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.