Michael Lin

Federation is a newly commissioned floor painting by renowned Taiwanese artist Michael Lin. Hand-painted in collaboration with local Melbourne artists, this immersive environment invites visitors to pause and reconsider the architecture of Federation Court at NGV International.

Lin is recognised internationally for his large-scale architectural interventions that appropriate motifs from traditional Taiwanese textiles. For this site-specific project at NGV, the artist has interspersed an ornamental floral pattern with designs adopted from a 1880s coverlet included in the NGV exhibition Making the Australian Quilt: 1800–1950 in 2016. Lin was interested in how the practice of quilt-making can convey ideas about Australia’s unique cultural make-up.

Federation by Michael Lin is presented as part of the NGV’s ongoing series of Federation Court commissions. This project has been generously supported by the Neilson Foundation. The Neilson Foundation was established in 2007 to support the arts and organisations that work towards social cohesion.