apichatpong weerasethakul
1970, Bangkok, Thailand
Apichatpong Weerasethakul works in the space between cinema and contemporary art, creating short and feature films, videos, and installations that are often non-linear and convey a strong sense of dislocation and otherworldliness. Through the manipulation of light and time, Weerasethakul creates work that bridges the gap between the real and mythical, individual and collective, corporeal and chimeric. Over the years, the majority of his projects involve many of the same actors, allowing him to capture different phases of their lives. Frequently set in rural Thai villages and forests, his films traverse an extremely personal territory, inviting the viewer to enter the subjective world of memory, myth, and deep yearning. By using unconventional narrative structures, expanding and contracting the sensation of time, and playing with ideas of veracity and linearity, Weerasethakul’s work comfortably resides in a world of his own making.
Weerasethakul received a BA in architecture from Khon Kaen University in Thailand in 1994, an MFA in filmmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1998, as well as an Honorary Doctorate from the same institution in 2011. In 1999, he co-founded Kick the Machine Films, a company that produces many of his films as well as other experimental Thai films and videos that are unlikely to find support under the established Thai film industry. The artist was decorated by the French Government as Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres, Officier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres and Commandeur de l’ordre des arts et des lettres in 2008, 2011, and 2017. In 2026, Weerasethakul was also named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. His art projects and feature films have won him widespread recognition and numerous festival prizes, including four awards from the Cannes Film Festival: Prix Un Certain Regard for Blissfully Yours in 2002, Prix du Jury for Tropical Malady in 2004, Palme d'or for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives in 2010, and Prix du Jury for Memoria in 2021.
Apitchatpong Weerasethakul lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
the vapor of melancholy, 2014
lightjet print on duratrands, lightbox
31.5 x 47.24 in.
primates' memories, 2014
lightjet print on duratrands, lightbox
39.37 x 59.06 in.
the importance of telepathy, 2012
sculpture: pu foam, acrystal and semi matt lacquer, steel framing; 150 wind chimes: caked clay, synthetic fiber string; 30 army hammocks from thailand
installation view at documenta 13, kassel, 2012
the importance of telepathy, 2012
sculpture: pu foam, acrystal and semi matt lacquer, steel framing; 150 wind chimes: caked clay, synthetic fiber string; 30 army hammocks from thailand
installation view at documenta 13, kassel, 2012
dilbar, 2012
single-channel video installation, hd digital, b&w, 16:9, dolby 5.1
10:00 min (loop)
installation view at sharjah 11, sharjah united arab emirates, 2013
dilbar, 2012
single-channel video installation, hd digital, b&w, 16:9, dolby 5.1
10:00 min (loop)
power boy, 2011
from for tomorrow for tonight project
giclée prints with dibond backing
59.06 x 88.58 in.
for tomorrow for tonight, 2011
installation consisting of 4 single channel videos, 5 photographs, 2 powered speakers, ceramic tiles
blow up (from primitive project), 2009
archival print, mounted on di-bond
57.76 x 87.4 in.
phantoms of nabua, 2009
single channel installation, digital, 16:9, dolby 5.1, color
10:56 min looped
primitive, 2009
video installation consisting of 6 independent single channel videos and 2 syncronised channels
installation view at fact (foundation for art and creative technology), liverpool, united kingdoom 2009
primitive, 2009
video installation consisting of 6 independent single channel videos and 2 syncronised channels
installation view at musée d'art moderne de la ville de paris, 2009
primitive, 2009
video installation consisting of 6 independent single channel videos and 2 syncronised channels
installation view at the new museum, new york united states, 2009
primitive, 2009
video installation consisting of 6 independent single channel videos and 2 syncronised channels
petch (from the primitive project), 2009
giclée print
57.87 x 87.4 in.
unknown forces, thailand / united states 2007
4 screen installation, digital, 16:9, dolby 5.1, color
various lengths, loops
unknown forces, thailand / united states 2007
4 screen installation, digital, 16:9, dolby 5.1, color
various lengths, loops
emerald (morakot), thailand / japan 2007
cinema version and single screen installation, digital, 16:9, dolby 5.1, color
11:50 min (looped)
emerald (morakot), thailand / japan 2007
cinema version and single screen installation, digital, 16:9, dolby 5.1, color
11:50 min (looped)
mysterious object at noon / dogfahr nai meu marn, thailand, 2000
35mm (blown up from 16mm), 1,85:1, dolby surround, black and white
83:00 min
mysterious object at noon / dogfahr nai meu marn, thailand, 2000
35mm (blown up from 16mm), 1,85:1, dolby surround, black and white
83:00 min
blissfully yours / sud sanaeha, thailand / france, 2002
35mm, 1,66:1, dolby surround, color
126:00 min
blissfully yours / sud sanaeha, thailand / france, 2002
35mm, 1,66:1, dolby surround, color
126:00 min
blissfully yours / sud sanaeha, thailand / france, 2002
35mm, 1,66:1, dolby surround, color
126:00 min
tropical malady / sud pralad, thailand / france / germany / italy 2004
35mm, 1,85:1, dolby surround, color
118:00 min
tropical malady / sud pralad, thailand / france / germany / italy 2004
35mm, 1,85:1, dolby surround, color
118:00 min
syndromes and a century / sang sattawat, thailand / austria / france
35mm, 1:1.85, dolby surround, color
105:00 min (approx)
syndromes and a century / sang sattawat, thailand / austria / france
35mm, 1:1.85, dolby surround, color
105:00 min (approx)
uncle boonmee who can recall his past lives / lung boonmee raluek chat, united kingdom/ thailand / germany / france/ spain 2010
35mm (blown up from super 16mm), 1,85:1, dolby surround, color
113:00 min
uncle boonmee who can recall his past lives / lung boonmee raluek chat, united kingdom/ thailand / germany / france/ spain 2010
35mm (blown up from super 16mm), 1,85:1, dolby surround, color
113:00 min
uncle boonmee who can recall his past lives / lung boonmee raluek chat, united kingdom/ thailand / germany / france/ spain 2010
35mm (blown up from super 16mm), 1,85:1, dolby surround, color
113:00 min
Solo exhibitions and screenings include: A Flower of Forgetfulness, as part of Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Les Brigittines, Brussels, Belgium (2026); Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Daejeon Museum of Art, South Korea (2025); A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage), Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2025); Particules de nuit, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2024); Primitive, M+, Hong Kong, China (2024); A Conversation with the Sun (VR), as part of Theater der Welt, Frankfurt, Germany (2023); The World of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Film at Lincoln Center, New York (2023); Roots are Tentacles, Stadtkino Basel, Switzerland (2022); Periphery of the Night, Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, France (2021); traveled to Fabra i Coats: Centre d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain (2022); and Matadero Madrid (2023); Luminous Shadows, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania (2018); The Serenity of Madness, organized by Independent Curators International (ICI), MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand (2016); traveled to Para Site, Hong Kong, China (2016); Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila, Philippines (2017); School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2017); Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA), Oklahoma (2018); and Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan (2019); Mirages, as part of Tate Film Pioneers, Tate Modern, London (2016); Photophobia, Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, Norway (2013); For Tomorrow For Tonight, Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin (2011); traveled to Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing (2011); Primitive, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2009); traveled to Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2009); and New Museum, New York (2011); Retrospektive Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Filmmuseum München, Munich, Germany (2009), among others.
Group exhibitions include: Blues on White: Art Exhibition Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Taikang Insurance Group, Taikang Art Museum, Beijing (2026); Remote Viewing, Museum of National Taipei University of Education (MoNTUE), Taiwan (2026); Tilda Swinton – Ongoing, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam (2025); traveled to Onassis Ready, Athens (2026); GHOST: When the Invisible Visible, Arts Maebashi, Japan (2025); The Natural Contract: Technology, Media, Human, Nature, Tsinghua University Art Museum, Beijing (2025); TODOS JUNTOS (All Together), kurimanzutto, New York (2022); Building Romance, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Japan (2018); SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2017); BODY/PLAY/POLITICS, Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan (2016); TODAY IS THE DAY: Proposal to the future, ART GALLERY MIYAUCHI, Hatsukaichi, Japan (2015); A Journal of the Plague Year. Fear, ghosts, rebels. SARS, Leslie and the Hong Kong story, Para Site, Hong Kong, China (2013); traveled to Arko Art Center, Seoul (2014); and KADIST, San Francisco (2015); Thai Transience, Singapore Art Museum (SAM) (2012); Transformation, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) (2010); The view from elsewhere, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (SCAF), Sydney, Australia (2009); traveled to Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Australia (2009), among others.
Weerasethakul has participated in various international biennials, including: pure intention, Singapore Biennale 2025 (2025); How to Hold Your Breath, 2024 Asian Art Biennial, Taichung, Taiwan (2024); The Open World, Thailand Biennale Chiang Rai 2023, Thailand (2023); STILL ALIVE, Aichi Triennale 2022, Japan (2022); May You Live in Interesting Times, 58th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2019); Imagined Borders, 12th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2018); Mondes flottants, 14e Biennale de Lyon, France (2017); The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed, 20th Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2016); Re:emerge – Towards a New Cultural Cartography, Sharjah Biennial 11, United Arab Emirates (2013); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany (2012); Trust, SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2010, South Korea (2010); Wonder, Singapore Biennale 2008 (2008); Farewell to Post-Colonialism, 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, China (2008); The 5th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT5), Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Australia (2006); International 06, 4th Liverpool Biennial, United Kingdom (2006); Black Market Worlds, IX Baltic Triennial of International Art, Vilnius, Lithuania (2005); Do You Believe in Reality?, Taipei Biennial 2004, Taiwan (2004); Egofugal – Fugue from Ego for the Next Emergence, 7. İstanbul Bienali (2001); Escape, 1st edition of the T.I.C.A.B – Tirana International Contemporary Art Biannual, Albania (2001), among others.
read the full article about memoria the last film of apichatpong weerasethakul on art asia pacific
Read the full conversation of Apichatpong Weerasethakuls with Rémy Jarry on Ocula magazine.
Read the full article on "Memoria", Apichatpong Weerasethakul's film in AnOther Magazine.
Read full review on Memoria winning the "Jury Prize" at the Cannes Festival in ArtReview.
Read full review on "Memoria", Apichatpong Weerasethakul 's movie filmed in Colombia at El País.
“Periphery of the night”is Apichatpong Werseethakul's solo exhibition at the IAC Villeurbanne, France on view until november 28, 2021.
Join Apichatpong Weerasethakul in conversation with Alaina Claire Feldman for Critical Ecology on Film, an online film screening and conversation series organized by the Mishkin Gallery in New York.
Read the full review on Apichatpong Weerasethakul's new 2021 film "Memoria" in La Tempestad.
In this interview Apichatpong Weerasethakul talks about his film Cemetery of Splendour (2015), and the unique journey he has taken as a filmmaker.
Read full article on Apichatpong Weerasethakul on de Film Krant about his reflections on the movie industry after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Artes Mundi 8, the most ambitious contemporary visual art exhibition in Wales and the largest art prize in the UK.
kurimanzutto is pleased to announce that 2018 FIAF Award will be presented to the artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
The 12th Gwangju Biennale’s Imagined Borders is a guiding concept that responds to the current times of change and uncertainty by recognizing the limits of grand narratives, singular authorship and the necessity to return to the complexities of multiple voices and perspectives. Seven exhibitions, spread across the city at the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall, the Asia Culture Center, and other historical sites, will present responses to the imagination of borders—as historical and real, experiential and abstract, imaginary and transgressive.
The Serenity of Madness is structured into distinct sections: one corresponding to the artist’s private world, peopled with friends, family and long-time collaborators; another takes up the public sphere but with a more abstract dimension of experience, utilizing light, memory and temporal, spatial, and spiritual displacement. The survey culminates with a selection of recent work addressing the social reality in his homeland.
A serene, immersive film environment where falling asleep is allowed: that’s one way to describe Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s SLEEPCINEMAHOTEL, a unique one-off project during IFFR 2018.
