In May this year, Director Nikky Lin and Director Cécile Renault signed a cooperative agreement on behalf of their respective organizations: the National Museum of Taiwan Literature (NMTL) and the Centre de coopération et d’action culturelle du Bureau français de Taipei (the Cooperation and Cultural Action Center of the French Office in Taipei). This agreement invites artists from France and Francophone countries to work in Taiwan as artists-in-residence, helping build Taiwan-Francophone ties and pool resources to organize artist activities. The public activities held by artists-in-residence will also help raise public knowledge in Taiwan about the Francophone world.

Over the last several years, NMTL has made international promotion a major goal. For over three years, the Taiwan Literature Base in Taipei has been hosting selected writers-in-residence, from both within Taiwan and overseas. Writers have come from Germany, the USA, Hong Kong, Czechia, and China, to share their work and the creative atmosphere of the Base with locals at exchange activities held every weekend. Meanwhile, the Programme de Residence Villa Formose ─ Livre (Villa Formosa Literary Creation Residency Program), sponsored by the CCAC of the French Office in Taipei with the aim of promoting cultural exchange between Taiwan and France, also provides opportunities for artists to stay in Taiwan as artists-in-residence. With the signing of this agreement, NMTL will now participate in selections for the Villa Formosa Program. Both sides will also publicize each other’s artist-in-residency programs, and promote the publishing of related works.

NMTL is committed to establishing relationships, promoting collaboration, and broadening exchange with countries around the world through the power of literature. NMTL’s collaborations with France include the 2024 Mois de la Francophonie (French Language Month) organized by the Alliance Française de Taïwan. 2023’s well-received French Picture Book Storytelling events are also being held once more this year. It is hoped that through this cooperative agreement, Taiwan and France can continue to build upon these successes, and contribute to deepening international literary exchange through visits by Francophone artists.