DUBLIN.- The
Irish Museum of Modern Art is presenting the first Irish exhibition by the internationally acclaimed Thai artist and film-maker Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Opening to the public on Wednesday, 27 July 2011, For Tomorrow For Tonight features new work that explores the theme of night through video, photographs and installation. Weerasethakul is the winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or prize for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. He is the director of Tropical Malady, winner of a jury prize at Cannes and Blissfully Yours, winner of the top prize in the Un Certain Regard program at Cannes in 2002; and at the 63rd Venice Film Festival, his film Syndromes and a Century is the first Thai film to be entered in competition there.
Night and darkness are recurring motifs in Weerasethakul’s films, themes that are further examined in the exhibition. For Tomorrow For Tonight comprises the films Goodnight Jenjira – Bathroom; Goodnight Jenjira – Living Room; For Tonight; and the sound work For Tomorrow. This new multimedia installation is made following The Primitive Project, which has been shown to critical acclaim around the world, and his feature film Uncle Boonmee. It has been specially made for the exhibition at IMMA and will be completed within days of its presentation.
Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system, Weerasethakul has directed several features and dozens of short films. Themes reflected in his films and frequently discussed in interviews include dreams, nature, sexuality and Western perceptions of Thailand and Asia. His films display a preference for unconventional narrative structures, like placing titles/credits at the middle of a film, and for working with those who have no previous experience of acting. Apichatpong belongs to a new generation of Thai artists and film-makers who are now very visible on the international art scene, and which includes figures such as Rirkrit Tiravanija, whose work was shown at IMMA in the .all hawaii eNtrées / luNar reggae exhibition in 2006.
Born in Bangkok in 1970, Weerasethakul holds a degree in architecture from Khon Kaen University and a Master of Fine Arts in Film-making from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He began making film and video shorts in the early 1990s, and completed his first feature, Mysterious Object at Noon, in 2000. Often, non-linear, with a strong sense of dislocation, his works deal with memory, subtly addressed personal politics, and social issues. He is active in promoting experimental and independent filmmaking through his company Kick the Machine, founded in 1999, and has mounted exhibitions and installations in many countries since 1998.
The exhibition, curated by Enrique Juncosa, Director of IMMA, is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue designed by Pony Ltd., London and features texts by the artist; Chris Dercon, Director of Tate Modern, Eungie Joo, curator at New Museum, New York and Tony Rayns.
