Watch the second lecture of the 2025 Asymmetry Distinguished Lecture Series at The Courtauld, ‘Psychedelic Reason’. In this lecture, visual artist and filmmaker Ricardo Yui reflects on the contradictions of modernity through his personal journey as an artist, from his initial excitement about the modernisation of Lima, to the deep disenchantment of his later works, which are haunted by modernity’s broken promises, the shadow of European colonialism, and the ruins of capitalism.
Focusing on his most recent work Kong, Yui’s talk turns to the long history of Chinese migration to Peru, exploring the critical and affective potential of shamanism and symbolic returns. This short film is part of a new body of work that examine diasporic experience through the lens of tradition, territory, and language.