Experience Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new cinematic work at MCA Australia
-MCA Australia presents new work by Thai artist and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul
-A unique meditation on memory, dreams, and the nature of cinema itself
14 July 2025, Sydney
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia), from 14 August 2025 – 8 February 2026, proudly presents A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage), a major new large-scale cinematic installation created especially for the museum by the celebrated Thai filmmaker and visual artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul in collaboration with Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid of the Bangkok-based collective DuckUnit.
A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage): Apichatpong Weerasethakul in collaboration with Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid presents a unique meditation on the nature of memory, cinema and the passage of time. Presented in the MCA Macgregor Gallery, this expansive 5-by-16-metre installation invites visitors into the visionary realm of one of today’s most renowned filmmakers.
Inspired by Weerasethakul’s contemplation of the sun during long walks in nature, A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage) explores the nature of perception and memory. Evoking a dream-like space, the installation features fragments of the artists’ video diaries projected onto a slow-moving length of fabric that drifts through the gallery. Simultaneously performative and apparitional, the fabric functions as both curtain and screen, capturing images as they appear and fade, and conveying a sense of the unconscious realm that is a recurring feature of Weerasethakul’s work.
A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage) draws upon the associative power of cinema for its emotional impact. In his installations and performances, Weerasethakul has long explored the relationship between cinema and theatre. A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage) brings the performative dimension of cinema to the forefront, offering audiences an all-encompassing experience that considers what it means to make images, remember, and dream.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul said about his latest work, ‘A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage) is a 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.’
Jane Devery, MCA Australia Senior Curator, Exhibitions said, ‘Apichatpong Weerasethakul is one of the world’s most innovative artists working at the intersection of visual art, moving image and cinema. It is a privilege to be presenting his new collaborative work that has been made especially for the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. It is an exciting moment for Sydney and our visitors.’
Apichatpong Weerasethakul (b. 1970, Bangkok, Thailand) is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker and visual artist. Through film, installation, theatre and performance, Weerasethakul has developed a mesmeric visual language to explore the nature of personal and collective memory, time and dreams. His works have received widespread international recognition, including the Cannes Jury Prize for Memoria (2021) and the Palme d’Or for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010). His installations have been widely exhibited internationally, including at the Haus der Kunst, Munich; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; The New Museum, New York; Documenta, Kassel; and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei. His recent installations include SleepCinemaHotel (2018), A Minor History (2021, 2022), A Conversation with the Sun (VR) (2022), Solarium (2023) and Ring of Fire (2024-2027, with Haegue Yang).
Rueangrith Suntisuk (b. 1981, Bangkok) is an artist, designer and co-director of experimental studio DuckUnit. Working across disciplines and media, he explores storytelling, space and the relationship between the observer and their environment. With DuckUnit, Suntisuk has worked as the lighting and stage designer for major musical performances and festivals across Thailand. His artistic collaborations include theatre and installation works such as Juggle and Hide (2023), with For What Theatre; and Intermission (2023), with Thanapol Virulhakul. Suntisuk has collaborated with Apichatpong Weerasethakul since 2004, contributing mechanical expertise to Weerasethakul’s visions in the moving image. Their collaborative works include A Conversation with the Sun (2022) and Ring of Fire (2024-2027, with Haegue Yang).
Pornpan Arayaveerasid (b. 1980, Bangkok) is a theatre and lighting designer and co-director of experimental studio DuckUnit. Her expertise lies in theatre productions, lighting, composition and scenography. Her work with light, subject and stage is grounded in her interest in the unfolding of movements over the passage of time. Slowness, duration and the resurfacing of memories are central to her practice. Arayaveerasid’s collaborations include Baan Cult, Muang Cult (2023), 4 Days in September (2022), and Juggle and Hide (2023); and Dialogue through the Sanctuary of Suthipa (2025) with Suthipa Kamyam. For the past decade, she has co-designed the scenography for major projects with Apichatpong Weerasethakul, including Fever Room (2015) and Ring of Fire (2024-2027, with Haegue Yang).
Public Program
MCA Australia is hosting an Artist in Conversation event with Apichatpong Weerasethakul and curator Jane Devery, MCA Australia Senior Curator, Exhibitions on Saturday 16 August, 2pm-3pm.
A special screening of short films by Apichatpong Weerasethakul will be screened at MCA Australia on Saturday 25 October, 12-1.30pm. Selected by the artist, this screening presents short films spanning 2007–2024.
The exhibition is curated by Jane Devery, MCA Australia Senior Curator, Exhibitions, assisted by Antares Wells, MCA Australia Assistant Curator.
The exhibition is free to MCA members and under 18s. Tickets are available to purchase from mca.com.au.
A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage): Apichatpong Weerasethakul in collaboration with Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid is presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Level 1 Galleries, from 14 August 2025 – 8 February 2026.
