In partnership with the French Office in Taipei and National Chung Hsing University (國立中興大學), the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA) hosts its first ever artist-in-residence Aurélien Lepetit this year. On Nov. 17, the NTMoFA held a presentation on artworks by the French artist, inviting him to share his creative process during his residency at the museum.

Through the “Villa Formose” residency program initiated by the French Office in Taipei, Lepetit, an embroiderer, was selected as the NTMoFA’s resident artist. During his stay in Taiwan, he visited various artistic and cultural facilities, including National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute and Taichung Museum of Fiber Arts, exploring the development in fiber arts and artistic innovation on the island.

At the event, Lepetit presented his study on the NTMoFA’s collections in the form of a visual atlas, which he created from the perspective of modern art and embroidery. Touching on topics such as queer culture and feminism, Lepetit integrated technological concepts, such as quantum physics, computer processing, mathematical imagery, and sentiment analysis, into his art pieces. 

The NTMoFA also invited artist-curator Wu Shang-lin (吳尚霖) to join in the sharing session, discussing the possibilities and challenges of interdisciplinary arts with Lepetit.

NTMoFA Director Chen Kuang-yi (陳貺怡) noted that the museum is planning to launch an international residency program in 2025, inviting artists, curators, critics, and scholars from abroad to participate in reconstruction of Taiwanese art history and showcase their creations, curations, and publications. She hoped that the program launched by the museum will help Taiwanese art step onto the world stage and increase its visibility.