The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday presented a French sculptor with a medal for using his artistic skills to improve the friendship between Taiwan and France.
Joseph Visy was presented with the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy by Eastern Taiwan Office Director Hu Chi-pin (胡琪斌), who highlighted the significant contributions Visy has made to Taiwanese stone carving art and aesthetics.
Visy, 71, has made Hualien County his home over the past 18 years.
Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei Times
Yesterday, he presented a work titled Happy to Live in Hualien 2001-2022, made out of marble, onyx and rose stone, to Hualien to thank the county and its people.
The sculpture, created to express his happiness while living in the county, is his gift to the people of Hualien to thank them for looking after him during the 18 years he has lived there, Visy said.
Visy said he faced several difficulties when he first arrived in Taiwan, but local residents helped him overcome those obstacles.
He said he also made many friends as his son grew up in Taiwan over the past 18 years.
Born in Budapest, Visy settled in Paris in 1981 where he was involved in the restoration of the Palace of Versailles, the Bourbon Palace, the Louvre Museum and the Arc de Triomphe.
He arrived in Taiwan at the end of 2001 to take part in a month-long camp for the Hualien International Stone Sculpture Festival. After the program ended, Visy returned to France, but then came back to Taiwan and settled in Hualien in 2004.
He said he fell in love with Hualien’s natural scenery over the years, as well as the many different types of stones that the county has.
Visy is to return to France later this year with his son, who is planning to begin his tertiary education in the country.
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