Thai creative Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a uniquely versatile figure. He trained in Bangkok as an architect, followed by a Master’s in filmmaking from the School of Art Institute of Chicago. His eclectic education laid the foundations for a career that spans film, theatre and contemporary art. The artist has received widespread international acclaim, including the Cannes Jury Prize for Memoria (2021) and the Palme d鈥橭r for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), as well as exhibiting artworks at Haus der Kunst, Munich; Centre Pompidou, Paris; New Museum, New York; and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei. The artist’s career is incredibly varied, yet his mesmeric visual language is a clear throughline 鈥 you know when you鈥檙e looking at a Weerasethakul. His pieces often return to themes of memory, time and dreams, with the artist once saying :鈥my work is鈥ot documentation. It鈥檚 not even historical record. It鈥檚 more about my personal reaction to a particular situation or place鈥. The latest of these immensely personal creations is now on display at Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia.
A Conversation with the Sun feels like a natural progression of Weerasethakul鈥檚 oeuvre. The cinematic installation explores the nature of memory, cinema and the passage of time. It is inspired by Weerasethakul鈥檚 contemplation of the sun during long walks in nature, evoking a dreamlike space that features fragments of the artist鈥檚 video diaries. Clips are projected onto a slow-moving length of fabric that drifts through the gallery. It captures images as they appear and fade, conveying a feeling that the audience has stepped right into the artist’s mind 鈥 something fans of Weerasethakul will recognise from earlier works. He described the installation as 鈥渁 meditation on light, urging us to observe the impermanence of images as they shift, dissolve and reappear. The work explores the nature of projection and perception. Surfaces shift and meanings transform. The projectors serve as both light sources and vehicles of memory, evoking sunlight, cinema, and the passage of time.鈥 The five-by-16 metre structure brings the performative aspects of cinema to the fore, as audiences simultaneously act as observer and participant. Weerasethakul has long worked at the intersection of theatre and cinema, and here, the disciplines come together to see visitors become absorbed into a moving-image. As the fabric slowly shifts, it is both screen and performer 鈥 playing host to video diaries that appear and dissolve, whilst swaying and flowing itself.
The project, although deeply personal, was not made in isolation. Weerasethakul collaborated with Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid of the Bangkok-based collective DuckUnit. Their hand in the final product is evident. Suntisuk has worked as the lighting and stage designer for major musical performances and festivals across Thailand, and since 2004, has contributed mechanical expertise to Weerasethakul鈥檚 moving image visions. Meanwhile, Arayaveerasid co-designs the scenography for the artist鈥檚 major projects, a role she has undertaken for the last decade. Her work with light, subject and stage is grounded in her interest in the unfolding of movement over time. Together, these three artists go beyond film or theatre, producing an experience that brings both artforms together. Senior Curator Jane Devery said: 鈥淚t has been a privilege to work with Weerasethakul and his longtime collaborators to present this compelling new installation. Made especially for the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage)聽is charged with a poetic atmosphere that is deeply affecting.鈥
MCA鈥檚 exhibition gets to the heart of Weerasethakul鈥檚 practice 鈥 it is reflective, ethereal, intiamte. There is a sense, as there is in many of his films, of spirituality. Many of us are guilty of rushing through life, speeding from one experience to the next, one errand to another. In creating this work, the artist has stepped off this modern treadmill, homing in on observations of the sun and sky to evaluate our relationship to time and memory. Here, he invites audiences to do the same. This is a space to slow down, reflect and reconnect with ourselves and our place in the world.
A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage) is at MCA, Sydney until 8 February 2026:
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
Installation view, A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage): Apichatpong Weerasethakul in collaboration with Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid, 2025, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2025, image courtesy and 漏 Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid, photograph: Zan Wimberley.
