The Serenity of Madness

Exhibition run
18th February – 14th May 2017

Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness is a selective survey of the work of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the internationally acclaimed artist and independent filmmaker based in Chiang Mai. This exhibition presents more than 20 works following Weerasethakul’s practice from his first experimental films to his most recent work, ranging across media from short films to video art, video diaries, prints and archival material.

For the past two decades, Weerasethakul’s reflexive and non-linear work has explored themes of faith, memory and rebirth, often drawing upon narrative traditions of his native Isaan region. His stories reflect diverse literary and cinematic genres including science fiction, adventure and myth, as well as the tradition of American experimental film. In both his narrative films and experimental projects, personal memories are interwoven with the ephemeral and the supernatural, evoking the fluidity and distortions of history.

In this first solo exhibition in Manila, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s use of tradition and modernity reveals the filmmaker’s cinematic language of contrast and texture, propelled and inspired by a myriad of influences that digs deep into the personal, national, cultural, historical and mythical context of the artist. The lyrical language that subsumes his work is marked by spirituality and the supernatural, and at the same time the political conflict that overshadows his region and country; these influences convey the internal logic of the filmmaker’s peculiar narrative that dissolves conventional ideas of beginning or end, and instead creates a constellation of stories and images that leave us with the imprint of a graceful experience with one of the fiercest imaginations in contemporary art and cinema today.

Download the exhibition press kit here.

Short Films by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
5 and 12 May 2017
3.00pm
12/F SDA Cinema, School of Design and Arts Campus
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde

Feature Films by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
31 May 2017
Cine Adarna, UPFI Film Center
Univeristy of the Philippines Diliman

5.00pm   |   Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
7.30pm   |   Cemetery of Splendour

Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness is a traveling exhibition curated by Gridthiya Gaweewong and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York. The exhibition and tour are made possible, in part, with the generous support from MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, the ICI Board of Trustees and ICI’s International Forum. The presentation at Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila has been organized in collaboration with Joselina Cruz. Additional support has been provided by the Royal Thai Embassy, National Book Store, Craftpoint Brewing Company, Premier Wine & Spirits, Inc., and Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc.