為什么俄羅斯生產(chǎn)了如此多的激進(jìn)藝術(shù)?

為什么俄羅斯生產(chǎn)了如此多的激進(jìn)藝術(shù)?

Artists have always held a special place in Russian society. My father, the playwright Alexander Guelman, was well known in the 1970s and was once lauded by Mikhail Gorbachev as the father of perestroika , the movement for reform within the Communist Party. At that time, theater was changing the perceptions of an entire generation.

藝術(shù)家在俄羅斯社會中一直占有特殊的地位。我的父親是劇作家亞歷山大·格爾曼，他在上世紀(jì)70年代很有名，曾被米哈伊爾·戈爾巴喬夫(Mikhail Gorbachev)譽為“改革之父”，即共產(chǎn)黨內(nèi)部的改革運動。當(dāng)時，戲劇正在改變整整一代人的觀念。

During the period of glasnost ("openness") in the mid-1980s, restrictions on forbidden books were relaxed . This newly available literature allowed people to evaluate society in ways that had previously been suppressed by communist propaganda.

在20世紀(jì)80年代中期的開放時期，對禁書的限制有所放松。這種新出版的文學(xué)作品使人們能夠用以前被共產(chǎn)主義宣傳會所壓制的方式來評價社會。

Now, social debate in Russia has been catalyzed by contemporary art, and provocative performances have proven the most effective medium for influencing public opinion. Artists have their fingers firmly on the pulse of the rapid changes taking place in Russian society.

如今，俄羅斯的社會辯論已被當(dāng)代藝術(shù)所催化，而挑釁性表演已被證明是影響公眾輿論最有效的媒介。藝術(shù)家們緊緊抓住俄羅斯社會迅速變化的脈搏。

A new subversion

一個新的顛覆

Until 2012, many of us assumed that, after communism, Russia would develop as a democracy. The authorities paid lip service to European values, but after Putin's reelection in 2012, Russia's work-in-progress democracy transformed into a stereotypical autocracy.

直到2012年，我們許多人都認(rèn)為，在共產(chǎn)主義之后，俄羅斯將發(fā)展成為一個民主國家。當(dāng)局嘴上說的是歐洲價值觀，但在2012年普京連任之后，俄羅斯正在進(jìn)行的民主變成了一種典型的獨裁政體。

The Russian government dropped any pretense of appearing Western; officials stopped trying to hide the wealth they had accumulated through corruption ; and the media was increasingly regarded as a tool of state propaganda. Courts became punitive rather than judicial bodies, with political disagreements treated as criminal conduct .

俄羅斯政府不再假裝自己是西方人;官員們不再試圖隱藏他們通過腐敗積累的財富;媒體也越來越被視為國家宣傳的工具。法院變得更具懲罰性，而不是司法機構(gòu)，政治分歧被視為犯罪行為。

In these circumstances, even the most politically engaged segment of Russian society became despondent and apathetic. After all, as one often hears uttered in Russia, "There's nothing we can do."

在這種情況下，即使是俄羅斯社會中最熱衷政治的部分也變得沮喪和冷漠。畢竟，正如人們在俄羅斯經(jīng)常聽到的那樣，“我們無能為力。”

Artistic awakening

藝術(shù)的覺醒

Russia's descent into authoritarianism has led to a crackdown on everything from supporting homosexuality and offending Orthodox Christians to criticizing authorities.

俄羅斯陷入威權(quán)主義導(dǎo)致了對一切的鎮(zhèn)壓，從支持同性戀、冒犯東正教徒到批評當(dāng)局。

In 2013, when I was director of the Perm Museum of Contemporary Art, we hosted Siberian artist Vasily Slonov's "Welcome! Sochi 2014," an exhibition that mocked the 2014 Winter Olympics. The exhibition was shut down the authorities, and I was dismissed from the museum.

2013年，當(dāng)我擔(dān)任彼爾姆當(dāng)代藝術(shù)博物館館長時，我們舉辦了西伯利亞藝術(shù)家瓦西里·斯洛諾夫的《歡迎!2014索契冬奧會》，一個嘲弄2014年冬季奧運會的展覽。展覽被當(dāng)局關(guān)閉了，我也被逐出了博物館。

But resisting such restrictions has offered another important artistic strategy. Siberian artist Damir Muratov does so by tackling the centralization of power through the language of art. He has created a separatist Siberian state from his own home (which he calls Bednotown, or "poor city"), which has many of the hallmarks of a real country: a coat of arms, a flag, a postal stamp and a currency. I once saw images of Muratov's works when I was being interrogated at a police station, but he has managed to avoid arrest and imprisonment so far -- likely because his separatist sentiments are confined to art.

但抵制這些限制提供了另一種重要的藝術(shù)策略。西伯利亞藝術(shù)家穆拉托夫通過藝術(shù)語言來解決集權(quán)問題。他從自己的家鄉(xiāng)(他稱之為“貧窮的城市”)創(chuàng)建了一個分裂的西伯利亞國家，這個國家擁有一個真正國家的許多特征:一件軍大衣、一面國旗、一張郵票和一種貨幣。我曾在警察局接受審訊時看到過穆拉托夫的作品，但到目前為止，他成功地避免了被捕和監(jiān)禁——可能是因為他的分裂主義情緒僅限于藝術(shù)。

Just as the Bolsheviks did 100 years ago, following the October Revolution, today's Russian government is trying to make art serve the state and further the government's ideology. However, only the most incompetent artists willingly serve this cause.

正如100年前布爾什維克在十月革命后所做的那樣，今天的俄羅斯政府正試圖讓藝術(shù)為國家服務(wù)，并進(jìn)一步推動政府的意識形態(tài)。然而，只有最無能的藝術(shù)家才愿意為這一事業(yè)服務(wù)。

The artistic community at large rarely sees eye to eye with the state. This conflict may not always boil over, but it exists because of a fundamental truth: Artists will always seek to be open to the world, looking to the future and seeing their place in it.

總的來說，藝術(shù)界很少與政府意見一致。這種沖突可能不會一直持續(xù)下去，但它之所以存在，是因為一個基本的事實:藝術(shù)家總是尋求向世界開放，展望未來，看到自己在其中的位置。