京劇魅影

By Cecily Liu 譯 / 蔚然

京劇魅影

By Cecily Liu 譯 / 蔚然

京劇中的人物扮相讓瓦爾瓦拉·沙嫵若著迷

瓦爾瓦拉·沙嫵若是一位俄裔愛(ài)爾蘭人。她是一名攝影藝術(shù)家，她的作品《京劇》系列給這一古老藝術(shù)增添了現(xiàn)代的光輝。

沙嫵若起初認(rèn)為站在臺(tái)上的表演者是一位貌美如花的女性?？上В脲e(cuò)了，不是因?yàn)檠輪T不漂亮，而是因?yàn)檠輪T是位帥小伙。

在故宮附近的一家茶館里，當(dāng)一位中國(guó)朋友向這位藝術(shù)家兼展覽策劃人介紹臺(tái)上的京劇演員是位小伙子的時(shí)候，她驚呆了。沙嫵若回憶說(shuō)：“當(dāng)時(shí)我說(shuō)不可能，朋友說(shuō)確實(shí)是，我堅(jiān)持說(shuō)不可能，因?yàn)閷?shí)在是太令人難以置信了?！?/p>

當(dāng)然吸引她的不僅僅只有這些，她說(shuō)自己非常喜歡京劇的服飾、演員的妝容和舞臺(tái)動(dòng)作，簡(jiǎn)直無(wú)法用語(yǔ)言來(lái)形容，這完全可以與現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)相媲美。

A Russian-Irish artist’s photographs of Peking Opera give a contemporary voice to the ancient art form.

Varvara Shavrova believed she was looking at one of the most beautiful women she’d ever seen. But she was wrong.

Not about the beautiful part. About the woman part.

The Russian-Irish artist and curator was stunned when Chinese friends told her the female Peking Opera character onstage at the teahouse near the Forbidden City was actually a man.

“I said ‘No’. And they said ‘Yes’. And I said ‘No’- and still couldn’t believe it.” she recalls.

But that wasn’t all that captivated her about the show.

和京劇的初次邂逅讓沙嫵若對(duì)京劇充滿興趣，她決定探尋京劇的歷史，用相機(jī)了解和記錄演員的生活，拍攝他們臺(tái)前幕后的點(diǎn)點(diǎn)滴滴，并將作品在倫敦展出，展覽主題為——京劇。

“I loved the costumes, the makeup, the movements and how it can be formulaic in its own language.” Shavrova says.

“You can compare it to contemporary art.”

This initial fascination prompted the Russian-Irish artist and curator to research Peking Opera’s history, understand the actors’ lives and document their preparations and performances in her London exhibition The Opera.

Peking Opera was initially an exclusively male pursuit, with female characters played by male actors since Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) had banned all female performers in 1772.

Although the ban was lifted in 1912, the tradition of males playing female roles continues.

This requires actors to put on layers of makeup and costumes, and heavy headdresses, which Shavrova says are almost like “helmets”. She photographed actors getting dressed, in sets of eight, to show the gradual transformation.

For example, the first picture of a series features a man without any makeup. The next few show the man applying layers of heavy

乾隆皇帝（1711-1799）于1772年下令女性不得作為京劇演員，自此，京劇藝術(shù)便成為男人的專(zhuān)利，所有女性角色均由男性扮演。盡管1912年，這一禁令廢止，但這一傳統(tǒng)依舊流傳至今。演員們需要身著華麗服飾，頭戴沉重發(fā)飾，濃妝艷抹，登臺(tái)表演，在沙嫵若眼中繁瑣的發(fā)飾就像頭盔一般。

沙嫵若拍攝了演員的化妝過(guò)程，一共用了8張圖片展示，將每一個(gè)步驟都清晰呈現(xiàn)。比如，第一張照片就是一個(gè)男演員的素顏照，接下來(lái)幾張拍攝了演員上妝，穿上華麗演出服，戴上華美發(fā)飾的全過(guò)程。之后的幾張照片中，一個(gè)貌美的女子慢慢呈現(xiàn)在觀眾眼前。最后的一張照片，你就能看到一個(gè)長(zhǎng)發(fā)飄逸、妝容精致、眼神含情脈脈的女子。展廳中播放著一段17分鐘的影片介紹京劇，另有兩塊等離子電視上展示了5分鐘的微速拍攝視頻。

這場(chǎng)展覽先是于2011年應(yīng)邀在西班牙特內(nèi)里費(fèi)島藝術(shù)展覽館展出，這里原來(lái)是一個(gè)廢舊的油料庫(kù)，2012年作品在愛(ài)爾蘭巴利納藝術(shù)中心展出，今年它們?cè)趥惗豍atrick Heide當(dāng)代藝術(shù)中心與世人見(jiàn)面。

沙嫵若遇到的第一位京劇導(dǎo)演是劉錚，也是他帶領(lǐng)著沙嫵若走近這一行當(dāng)。沙嫵若說(shuō)：“我和演員們都成了朋友，我們經(jīng)常一起吃飯、聚會(huì)?！?/p>

這位藝術(shù)家意識(shí)到，隨著這門(mén)藝術(shù)的關(guān)注者越來(lái)越少，京劇這個(gè)行業(yè)也面臨著經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)。她說(shuō)：“干這一行付出多，回報(bào)少。在博客中，你可以看到他們有粉絲團(tuán)，有追隨者，但是這遠(yuǎn)不敵那些流行巨星。但是他們從事這份工作并不是僅僅為錢(qián)，更是執(zhí)著于他們熱愛(ài)的事業(yè)，創(chuàng)造藝術(shù)之美?！?/p>

沙嫵若曾讓劉錚把她裝扮成《貴妃醉酒》中的楊貴妃，這是唐代（公元618—907年）唐明皇最寵愛(ài)的妃子。劉錚的母親用了兩個(gè)小時(shí)完成了沙嫵若的愿望。化妝之后，沙嫵若站起來(lái)，頓時(shí)感到頭暈?zāi)垦?，她說(shuō)：“說(shuō)實(shí)話，當(dāng)時(shí)我?guī)缀醪荒茏?，難以想見(jiàn)那些演員在臺(tái)上歌唱舞蹈如此艱辛，況且他們還得舞劍。”

盡管京劇藝術(shù)似乎不再那么流行，但沙嫵若相信這是門(mén)現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)而非古老陳舊，她說(shuō)直覺(jué)告訴她京劇很現(xiàn)代。“京劇就像當(dāng)代藝術(shù)一般，只有你花時(shí)間去理解藝術(shù)家的思想才能了解一個(gè)作品。每一件作品都是那樣精致美麗，充滿魔力?！彼J(rèn)為京劇有著自己的內(nèi)在發(fā)展規(guī)律，不受外界干擾。makeup and putting on a head cloth to cover his hair, followed by an elaborate headdress with beautiful decorations. In the last few photographs, the character’s femininity emerges.

The final shot shows what appears to be a woman with long hair, delicate facial features and a soft gaze.

The exhibition also displays a large-scale projection of a 17-minute film demonstrating Chinese opera and two plasma screens showing five-minute time-lapse videos.

The exhibition was originally commissioned by and shown at the Espacio Cultural El Tanque in 2011 - an old oil depot on the Spanish island Tenerife. It was shown in 2012 at the Ballina Arts Center in Ireland and this year at the Patrick Heide Contemporary Art gallery in London.

The first Peking Opera actor Shavrova met was Liu Zheng. He introduced Shavrova to others.

“I became friends with these people.” Shavrova says.

“We went out to dinner together and socialized.”

She came to realize the financial difficulties they face as the genre’s popularity declines.

“They’re doing lots of work for very little money.” she says.

“They have the fan groups and followers on blogs, but a lot fewer compared to big pop stars. But they don’t do it for the money. They’re doing something entirely beautiful and they love what they do.”

She once asked Liu to dress her up as the female role in The Drunken Concubine, which tells a story of the famous Yang Yuhuan, a concubine to Emperor Minghuang in Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). Liu’s mother helped Shavrova dress up. It took two hours.

When it was done, Shavrova stood up and felt dizzy.

“Literally, I couldn’t move. And these actors, on top of all this, they have to sing and dance, and they have to do a sword dance. It’s really tough.” she says.

But while contemporary performances have stolen the stage from Peking Opera, Shavrova believes the genre is modern, rather than archaic.

“I thought of it as being modern on an intuitive level.” she says.

“It is like contemporary art, which you wouldn’t understand unless you put time into understanding what the artist means. It was very charming and very beautiful.”

She also believes it operates according to its own rules.

“It has nothing to do with this life.” she says.

Shavrova worries this performance art will die out if its popularity further declines and if the Chinese government doesn’t sufficiently support it.

Shavrova was born and educated in Moscow. She moved to London in 1989 and shared her studio time between London and Ireland for the next 15 years, before moving to China in 2005.

At the time, Shavrova’s Irish engineer husband was working on a few architecture projects in China, so the couple relocated to Chinawith their two children. Shavrova immersed herself in local life and the art community.

沙嫵若在倫敦的展覽中，她身后的照片是她的作品

沙嫵若在莫斯科出生和上學(xué)，1989年來(lái)到倫敦，在2005年來(lái)到中國(guó)之前，她在倫敦和愛(ài)爾蘭兩地的工作室奔波。她的丈夫是愛(ài)爾蘭人，是一名工程師，那時(shí)在中國(guó)做一些工程項(xiàng)目。所以，夫妻倆就決定帶著兩個(gè)孩子來(lái)中國(guó)生活。沙嫵若覺(jué)得自己深深地融入了當(dāng)?shù)氐纳詈退囆g(shù)社區(qū)，她說(shuō)，“我在北京的798藝術(shù)區(qū)經(jīng)營(yíng)著一個(gè)工作室，我在那里會(huì)見(jiàn)我的中外友人。在那里我總能感到靈感迸發(fā)，創(chuàng)意思想被激發(fā)。”

沙嫵若在中國(guó)的一個(gè)展覽名為“逝”，用黑白照片對(duì)比北京和愛(ài)爾蘭的鄉(xiāng)村，展現(xiàn)了老房子、屋墻、窗戶和人。另一個(gè)展覽名為“邊境”，拍攝了中俄邊境，靈感來(lái)源于一次中國(guó)旅行。

沙嫵若通過(guò)胡同文化記錄北京的生活，各種各樣的活動(dòng)反映了普通市民的生活。她還錄制了人們聊天的聲音，在展廳中播放，讓人身臨其境。攝影作品的微小細(xì)節(jié)反映了她對(duì)北京胡同文化的喜愛(ài)，比如窗框、窗花、窗簾和大魚(yú)缸，大魚(yú)缸就是餐館里用來(lái)展示鮮魚(yú)的那種缸。沙嫵若對(duì)胡同文化做了細(xì)致的研究，采訪了許多本地市民，還為此拍攝了電影。

詹姆斯·伯奇是此次展覽的投資商，同時(shí)他也是一位策展人，擁有自己的畫(huà)廊。他以前都是通過(guò)書(shū)上的圖片了解京劇，這是第一次在藝術(shù)展上接觸它。伯奇說(shuō)：“京劇系列攝影非常棒，我喜歡藝術(shù)家的構(gòu)想，展現(xiàn)了京劇表演者上臺(tái)前到上臺(tái)后的全過(guò)程。我想，這次展覽應(yīng)該會(huì)吸引更多國(guó)際目光來(lái)關(guān)注中國(guó)文化。許多人不了解京劇，讓人們意識(shí)到它的存在很有必要?！?/p>

姚小姐是此次倫敦展覽策劃公司的經(jīng)理，她一樣認(rèn)為此次攝影展架起了中西方文化的橋梁。她說(shuō)：“作為身居海外的中國(guó)人，我們?yōu)榫﹦∵@一國(guó)粹感到驕傲。但是，我們很少有機(jī)會(huì)仔細(xì)了解它，一直以來(lái)把它當(dāng)作是老年人關(guān)注的藝術(shù)形式。不過(guò)，讓我倍感興奮的是，一位藝術(shù)家從現(xiàn)當(dāng)代的角度來(lái)看待它，她架起了文化的橋梁，帶給傳統(tǒng)文化新的創(chuàng)造力，讓京劇離年輕人更近?！保–hina Daily 孫曄供稿）

“I was really inspired by 798, the art district in Beijing. I was offered a studio, and I met some Chinese and international artists. And I felt it was a really dynamic place where I can make new projects.” she says.

One of her exhibitions in China is Untouched, which compares Beijing with rural Ireland, showing old houses, walls, windows and the people in blackand-white images. Another is Borders, which shows the Russian-Chinese border. The show was inspired by her journey into China.

Shavrova examines everyday Beijing life in Windows on the Hutong, which shows different activities that reflect the ordinary lives of inhabitants through windows. In this exhibition, she also recorded sounds of people chatting away in the rooms to be played alongside the installation.

Her fascination with hutong is seen through the minute details in her photographs, such as window frames, writings on windows, curtains and fish tanks that display fish sold in restaurants. Shavrova did extensive research and interviewed local people. She also made a film about them.

London-based art dealer, curator and gallery owner James Birch says The Opera is “absolutely great”.

“I like the idea of the before-and-after situation.” he says.

Birch has only seen Peking Opera images in books but never in an art exhibition.

Birch says the show will also generate more international awareness about Chinese culture.

“Many people don’t know about Peking Opera, so it’s good to make people aware.” he says.

Betty Yao, director of the London-based exhibition management firm Credential International Arts Management, also believes The Opera bridges China and the West.

“As overseas Chinese, we all feel proud of what Peking Opera represents.” she says.

“But we have little opportunity to know more about it. We always think this is an art form for old people. What is fascinating for me is to see an artist representing a very modern contemporary angle to look at something that is a loved art form - it’s her ability to create that bridge and bring in traditional art forms through creativity and reach the younger people of today.”

北京公交地鐵價(jià)格調(diào)整

Beijing Subway Price Adjustment

2014年12月28日起，北京市公交地鐵調(diào)價(jià)。價(jià)格調(diào)整方案如下：

地面公交價(jià)格調(diào)整為：10公里（含）內(nèi)2元，10公里以上部分，每增加1元可乘坐5公里。

北京軌道交通（機(jī)場(chǎng)線除外）價(jià)格將調(diào)整為：6公里（含）內(nèi)3元；6公里至12公里（含）4元；12公里至22公里（含）5元；22公里至32公里（含）6元；32公里以上部分，每增加1元可乘坐20公里。

Beijing Subway’s new prices were implemented on December 28,2014. The new rules are as follows:

-Bus: 2 RMB for up to 10 kilometers, add 1 RMB per 5 kilometer.

- Metro: 3 RMB for up to 6 kilometers, 4 RMB for 6-12 kilometers, 5 RMB for 12-22 kilometers, 6 RMB for 22-32 kilometers, and add 1 RMB per extra 20 kilometers over 32.

上?！捌桨驳罔F”APP上線運(yùn)營(yíng)

Big Brother on the Shanghai Subway Starting

近日，上?！捌桨驳罔F”APP上線運(yùn)營(yíng)，普通乘客可以申請(qǐng)成為“平安志愿者”，通過(guò)APP實(shí)時(shí)上報(bào)社會(huì)治安事件和運(yùn)營(yíng)安全信息。2014年12月，“平安地鐵”APP處于內(nèi)測(cè)階段， 2015年1月1日起APP正式上線。

Shanghai’s metro users are able to download an app on their smartphones that allows them to report crimes and service issues. As soon as a passenger reports an incident, the nearest official or police officer will be alerted.The app increased vigilance on the subway .It will go into full affect for everybody to use starting thisyear.

西安將建全國(guó)首家考古博物館

Xi'an to Build China's First Archaeology Museum

記者從陜西省文物部門(mén)了解到，陜西將建設(shè)中國(guó)第一座考古博物館——陜西考古博物館。該項(xiàng)目選址在西安市長(zhǎng)安區(qū)。

項(xiàng)目將投資3.15億元，總用地面積近17萬(wàn)平方米，設(shè)有文物保護(hù)中心及考古學(xué)術(shù)中心等。

The Shaanxi provincial department of cultural relics has announced that Xi’an will be opening China’s first archaeology museum.

The museum will be in Xi’an’s Chang’an district, and will have 315 million RMB invested in it. The entire museum is expected to cover 170,000 meters and will also have a cultural relic protection lab and an academic exchange center.

Days at the opera