【EVENT RECAP】5/28 ZITA Talks

On the 28th of May, 2025, Artists Arthur Francietta and Yen Tzu Chang were invited to present their work and share their experiences in artist residencies at ZITA.

Arthur Francietta recently completed a one-month residency at Surfy Space as part of the Villa Formose program, a residency initiative by the French Office in Taipei with the support of the Institut Français. An artist and typographer from Martinique, Arthur explores writing systems of minorities and graphic systems with his Caribbean heritage as a starting point.

In his talk, he first shared his creative background and key ideas, as well as defining his background and key concepts, the Caribbean context and his works as a typographer including the digitalization of writing systems. During his time in Taiwan, he focused on Indigenous cultures, particularly the traditional use of banana fiber for weaving. This material offered a new perspective on a familiar yet controversial plant in Martinique, where intensive banana farming and sickness control has led to ecological disasters due to heavy chemical use.

His residency also allowed him to begin a graphic exploration through monotype printmaking — a printing technique he applied to canvas. In the future, he hopes to bring together this work on monotypes with his research into weaving.

Yen Tzu Chang, a Taiwanese new media artist and director, creates works in both exhibition and theatrical formats. Her practice centers on Taiwan’s stories and ecosystems. Her art invites audiences to reflect on their relationship with the wild, as in The Eternal Zoo, or with the other, as in The Anomaly. 

Through works that merge installation, video, dance, and music—and require the collaboration of multiple participants—she explores how traditional methodologies of artistic training are challenged, emphasizing the need for clear organization, defined timelines, and a communicable artistic vision.

Using the theme of the artist residency as the through-line of her talk, Yen Tzu shared how projects initiated during residencies evolved into new forms over time, demonstrating how these experiences can become engines for artistic creation. She also discussed her residencies experiences within both public and private research and industrial institutions, where she has had to rethink how to create, communicate, and navigate the expectations of the host—all while remaining true to her artistic voice.

Many thanks to both artists for their engaging presentations and to all persons who attended ！