The U.S. government has been sending dancers and musicians on international goodwill missions for decades. Now, for the first time, it is sending artists abroad as cultural ambassadors.
幾十年來，美國政府不斷派遣舞蹈家和音樂家到世界各地去展開親善活動。現在，美國政府第一次要派遣藝術家作為文化使者到國外去。
The Obama Administration's new cultural diplomacy program is called smART Power. The Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York oversees the initiative.
XX政府新的文化外交專案叫做“聰明實力”或者是“藝術實力”。紐約的布朗克斯藝術博物館被選來負責這個計劃。
smART Power
"I think it's fantastic," says Holly Block, the museum's director. "The Bronx Museum itself has done quite a few projects related to community engagement and [having artists] work closely with the community, as well as international artists all over the world. So this fits perfectly. This is the first opportunity I think we've ever had where we're actually able to send U.S.-based artists outside [the U.S.]. Normally we receive artists."
博物館負責人哈莉·布魯克說：“我覺得這簡直太棒了。布朗克斯博物館本身就參與了好幾個和社群有關的專案，我們的藝術家能夠和社群以及世界各地的藝術家緊密合作。這件事對我們非常合適。這是我們第一次有機會把美國的藝術家派到國外去，通常是我們接待來自其它國家的藝術家。”
Block says visual artists - including painters, sculptors, architects, designers - may apply for the program starting January 3.
布魯克說，視覺藝術，包括繪畫、雕塑、建築、設計等領域的藝術家，從明年1月3號開始可以申請參加這個專案。
"They will submit their materials with a concept," she explains. "We'll expect them to write a small narrative on what they would like to do. But the idea of this project is really special in the sense that you need to think about community and think about visiting this place and creating a project that's in relationship with maybe some topic that's already going on there, or some of the ideas that you bring to them. We will be working very closely with the artists in selecting partner sites to receive the artists and help them realize their work."
“藝術家們需要提交一些資料，顯示要表達的概念。我們期待他們簡單寫寫他們要做什麼。但是這個專案的特殊之處在於，藝術家需要考慮他們要去的地方的特色，提出一個和當地正在進行的一些專案相關的計劃，或者給當地人的建議。我們會和這些藝術家緊密切合作，挑選接待他們的夥伴機構，並幫助他們完成計劃。”
Cultural diplomacy
After 15 artists are selected to participate, they will be sent to work on public art projects with students, teachers, athletes and artists in 15 countries, including Pakistan, Venezuela, China, Nigeria and Lebanon.
最後將有15名藝術家被挑選出來前往15個國家，和當地的學生、教師、運動員和藝術家一起創作公共藝術專案。這些國家包括巴基斯坦、委內瑞拉、中國、奈及利亞和黎巴嫩。
"I think it's important for many artists to get out of the bubble of their studio," says Tim Rollins, an artist who is on the Bronx Museum's Board of Directors. Since the 1980s, he has been helping young artists get involved in their communities and visit other cities as well. He believes traveling expands an artist's horizon.
布朗克斯博物館理事會理事、畫家蒂姆·羅林斯說：“我認為，讓很多藝術家走出畫室是很重要的。”1980年代以來，羅林斯一直幫助年輕藝術家參與社群活動，到別的城市參觀。他說，旅行能夠擴大藝術家的視野。
"In every single experience I've ever had, traveling and working abroad, a new concept is created, a new approach becomes possible," Rollins says. "That's often unpredictable. You don't know exactly who you're going to work with, who is going to have an idea that you maybe had never thought of before. When you're together with other communities, it's like a big Thanksgiving Day dinner. The food is really important, but it's often a wonderful experience to get together for an exchange would never have happened."
“我的經驗是，每一次旅行，每一次到國外工作，我都能獲得一個新想法，或者找到一個新辦法。這往往是不可預測的'。你不知道你將跟誰合作，誰會有那些你以前從來沒有過的想法。”
Rollins expects it will be easy for the smART Power ambassadors to initiate a dialogue with local artists wherever they're sent.
羅林斯預計，不管藝術大使們被派到哪兒，他們和當地藝術家開始對話都不會是一件難事。
"In my previous experiences - working in all these different places - local artists tend to want to meet you. They want to be involved. They want to know what's going on in the U.S. It's not competitive, it's not spiteful. It's a genuine curiosity. That's one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of this sort of collaboration is the fact that you meet with many wonderful new people and they are like-minded and creative. And it's all good."
“我以往的經驗是，不管你在哪裡，當地的藝術家都希望和你見面，希望參與。他們想了解美國的事情。這不是競爭，沒有任何惡意，就是純粹的好奇。這種合作最讓人激動和最有回報的就是，你能夠認識很多非常棒的新朋友，他們和你有相同的看法，也非常有創造力。這都是好事。”
Lasting value
As artist in residence for New York City's Sanitation Department, Mierle Ukeles creates major public artworks that explore the social aspects of waste management - such as putting mirrors on trash trucks to reflect the people who create the trash and choreographing a ballet for trucks at a landfill. She can imagine similar projects in other cities around the world. To succeed though, she says artists need to know more about those foreign communities and have the freedom to express themselves.
米爾勒·尤克里斯是紐約市公共衛生部的駐地藝術家，創作了一些反映垃圾處理中社會問題的大型公共藝術作品，比如在垃圾車上裝上鏡子，反照出製造垃圾的人，比如編排一段表現垃圾掩埋場工作的芭蕾舞。尤克里斯表示，她能夠想象，世界各國其他城市也需要類似的專案。她說，為了成功，藝術家們需要更多地瞭解國外社群，並且要能自由表達。
"Art is about freedom," she says. "You do whatever you want to. It's always about freedom. Nobody can tell the artist you what to do this or you can do that. Then it's not art. It's something else. I hope that people go with open heart."
“藝術說到底就是自由。做任何你想做的事情，這永遠和自由有關。沒有人可以告訴藝術家你可以這樣做或那樣做。那就不是藝術了。我希望人們能保持一個開放的心態。”
Rollins expects they will. While smART Power is funded by the U.S. government, he says artists are the ones who will shape the program.
畫家蒂姆·羅林斯也有這樣的期待。儘管“藝術實力”專案得到美國政府的資助，但是羅林斯表示，讓這個專案真正活起來的是藝術家們。
"Part of the excitement of coming up with projects is to figure out what's going to work," Rollins says. "So it isn't just that the government is sponsoring your vision as an artist in a selfish way. Really it is about what can we do, what can we come up with, which will engage the community that we're going to be visiting? And that's what we are - we are visitors. And, yeah, play the role of being a visitor as opposed to being a tourist, as opposed to being a propaganda instrument for the U.S. That won't work. What will work is a genuine dialogue between the communities to produce something that is of lasting, excellent and cultural value."
他說：“確實，這關乎到我們能夠做什麼，我們能有什麼想法，讓我們即將前往的社群能夠參與進來。我們是訪問者，所以要發揮一個訪問者的作用，而不是旅遊者，不是美國政府的宣傳工具。如果是那樣，事情就辦不成了。要想成功，必須和當地社群展開真誠的對話，這樣才能創造出持久、優秀而且具有文化價值的東西。”
And, all those involved hope the smART Power dialogue will also produce something that gives people a better understanding of America and American visual arts.
所有參與這個工作的人都希望，“藝術實力”對話還將產生一些作品，讓人們更瞭解美國及美國的視覺藝術。
