Department of Cultural Affairs

 

Photo by LRM
The exhibition of “Apichatpong Weerasethakul ─ The Serenity of Madness” in the gallery on the 3^rd floor of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.

By Dory Chung
 
On November 30th, the exhibition of “Apichatpong Weerasethakul - The Serenity of Madness” opened in the 3rd floor gallery of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. This is a part of the international tour organized by Gridthiya Gaweewong. All the items on exhibit were creations of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, a world famous Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer.
 
From his first experimental film in 1994 until his newest production to be filmed in South America, his art includes short films, video art, image diary, photography and literature. These are all examples of his rich creations, so different from movie dramas.
 

Photo by LRM
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Memoria, “Boy at Sea”, 2017. Single-channel video installation, circular projection.
 

Photo by Taioei Fine Arts Museum
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, “Fireworks (Archives)”, 2014. Single-channel
video installation on glass.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul was born in northeastern Thailand. He majored in architecture in the university, and then studied movie production at the Art Institute of Chicago, in the US. His first movie, “Mysterious Object at Noon” in 2000, caught the attention of the film industry. Later, his films “Blissfully Yours” and “Tropical Malady” won awards at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2010, his film “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Besides making films, he also took part in many photography and video exhibitions.
 

Photo by LRM
Apichatpong Weerasethakul talks about his art at the press conference.

The TFAM exhibition showcases his creations using different types of cameras, such as “TEEM” done by tri-band recording and “Ashes” done with a movie camera. They were experimental works that he later included among his repertoire of creations. He did several image diaries of his life. These included the actors he worked with, the scenery during the rainy season in his hometown, field research for his films, and the medical treatment of his artist father. There are also the original scripts of his films “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” and “Tropical Malady”.
 

Photo by LRM
Yu Si-ying (余思穎), the Chief of Taipei Fine Arts Museum’s Exhibition Department, delivers welcome remarks at the press conference.

The exhibition runs from November 30th, 2019 through March 15th, 2020, at the 3A and 3B galleries in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. The public is welcome to come enjoy this exhibition meant to take viewers on a journey between reality and dreams.