Museums serve not only as repositories for precious cultural artifacts, but also bear the important mission of fostering cross-cultural dialogue and humanistic exchange. Since its founding in 1955, the National Museum of History (NMH) has continuously promoted art-historical research, collection management, exhibition design, educational outreach, and international cooperation, with a sustained focus on cultivating cultural exchange between Taiwan and Japan. In its foundational years, the Museum initiated these connections through exchange programs and exhibitions dedicated to calligraphy, ceramics, and photography, progressively expanding its network with Japanese museums, art galleries, and cultural institutions. In recent years, NMH has further deepened these bonds through strategic partnerships with institutions such as the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and the University Museum, the University of Tokyo. Through collection-based research, scholarly symposia, and joint curatorial endeavors, NMH continues to build a rich foundation for artistic exchanges between Taiwan and Japan.

The exhibition Ripples and Rhymes: Fu Yi-yao and Taiwan-Japan Art Exchanges is grounded in this very context of exchange. Through a curated selection of artworks, archival documents, and historical records, the exhibition illuminates the multifaceted ways in which cultures have observed, reflected upon, and inspired one another across different eras. Fu Yi-yao’s decades-long artistic practice spanning both Taiwan and Japan provides a concrete and vivid testament to contemporary cultural exchange. Her vibrant depictions of Japanese folk festivals, temple screen paintings (fusuma), ink landscapes, and painted ceramics showcase her personal artistic style and characteristics. Through this exhibition, visitors are invited not only to appreciate the intrinsic beauty of these artistic creations, but also to trace the National Museum of History’s long history of cultivating Taiwan–Japan cultural dialogue, experiencing the transformative power of art to bridge time, space, and cultures.