A major new video installation A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage) by renowned Thai filmmaker and visual artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul in collaboration with Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid of the Bangkok-based collective DuckUnit has opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia).
A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage) 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 and visual artists.
Inspired by Weerasethakul’s contemplation of the sun during long walks in nature, A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage) explores the nature of light, 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 ghost-like, the fabric functions as both curtain and screen, capturing images as they appear, dissolve and reappear.
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.
“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,” said Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
“Apichatpong Weerasethakul is one of the most innovative artists working at the intersection of visual art, moving image and cinema. It has been a privilege to work with him and Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid, his longtime collaborators, to present this compelling new installation. Made especially for the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage) is charged with a heightened poetic atmosphere that is deeply affecting,” said Jane Devery, MCA Australia Senior Curator, Exhibitions.
A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage)
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia), George Street, The Rocks (Sydney)
Exhibition continues to 15 February 2026
Entry fees apply
For more information, visit: www.mca.com.au for details.
Image: Installation view, A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage): Apichatpong Weerasethakul in collaboration with Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid, 2025, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2025, image courtesy and © Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid – photo by Zan Wimberley