中德合辦的基弗藝術展遭藝術家本人反對
BEIJING — One of China’s top art academies is facing criticism for moving ahead with a major exhibition of work by Anselm Kiefer, even after the blue-chip German artist expressly disavowed the show, which he said was organized without his consent.
北京——中國一所頂尖的藝術學院正在面臨批評，因爲它罔顧藝術家安塞姆•基弗(Anselm Kiefer)本人意願，舉辦了一個他的大型作品展。這位首屈一指的德國藝術家明確表示反對舉辦該展，稱展覽的組織者沒有徵求他的同意。
In a statement issued last week, Mr. Kiefer called for the cancellation of the exhibition, “Anselm Kiefer in China,” which was co-organized by the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Beijing and the Bell Art Center in Hamburg, Germany.
在上週發表的一份聲明中，基弗呼籲中國中央美術學院美術館和德國漢堡的貝爾藝術中心(Bell Art Center)取消它們合辦的“基弗在中國”展覽。
“Throughout my career I have been heavily involved in all my major international exhibitions, and it is a matter of deep regret and frustration that the organizers of my first show in China have seen fit to exclude me from the process,” Mr. Kiefer said in the statement.
“回顧我的職業生涯，我積極地參與到了所有我的大型國際展覽中，而我在中國首場展覽的組織者，卻將我排除在這一過程之外，這讓我感到深深的遺憾和沮喪，”基弗在聲明中說。
The artist, who did not respond to requests for an interview, is in London to oversee the installation of his latest show, which opens on Wednesday at White Cube Bermondsey.
他在倫敦監督他的最新展覽的佈置工作，沒有迴應採訪請求。該展覽週三在柏孟塞白立方畫廊(White Cube Bermondsey)開幕。
Despite Mr. Kiefer’s plea, “Anselm Kiefer in China” opened on Saturday as originally planned and is scheduled to run until Jan. 8. The show, which contains about 85 works, is being billed as Mr. Kiefer’s first-ever exhibition in China.
儘管基弗提出了要求，但“基弗在中國”展覽還是在上週六按照原計劃開幕了，並將持續到1月8日。這個展覽包含了大約85件作品，據稱是首次在中國舉行的基弗作品展。
In a statement released before the opening, the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum emphasized that because all of the owners gave permission to loan the works, the exhibition presented no problems on legal grounds. Organizers have said that most of the works are drawn from the collection of one unnamed individual.
中央美術學院美術館在開幕前發表的聲明中強調，由於所有藏家都同意提供作品，因此這個展覽不存在法律方面問題。組織者說大部分作品都來自一位個人藏家，但沒有提及這位藏家的名字。
But some experts say the issue is an ethical one. For major survey shows of living artists, many museums will typically go out of their way to obtain the consent of the artist.
但有些專家說，這是一個倫理問題。對於健在藝術家的作品展，很多博物館通常會進一步爭取藝術家本人的同意。
“It’s not only about respecting the artist, it’s about respecting the audience,” said Pi Li, a senior curator at M+, the planned museum for visual culture in Hong Kong. “It’s very difficult to imagine how you can select the best works of an artist from a huge oeuvre and present them in a limited museum space without the involvement of the artist.”
籌備中的視覺文化博物館M+的高級策劃人皮力說，“這不僅是尊重藝術家，也是尊重觀衆。如果沒有藝術家的參與，很難想象你如何從巨大的作品庫中挑選出一個藝術家最好的作品，並把它們展示在有限的博物館空間裏。”
In its statement, the museum blamed the show’s German co-organizers for misrepresenting Mr. Kiefer’s involvement in the show. “It was not until after the agreement with the German partners had been signed that we learned that Mr. Kiefer actually had not signed off on the show,” the statement said.
中央美院美術館館在聲明中將責任歸咎於德方主辦機構錯誤地讓他們相信基弗會參與展覽。“在與德方主辦機構簽定展覽協議後，我們曾獲知基弗先生並不贊同舉辦這個展覽，”聲明中寫道。
Wang Huangsheng, the director of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, said that his museum had been hoping to do a Kiefer show for many years but that funding was a problem. So when Bell Art Center approached the museum team this year and offered to cover most of the costs, he said, the museum was eager to sign on.
中央美院美術館館長王璜生表示，該館多年來一直希望能做一場基弗作品展，但資金是個問題。所以當貝爾藝術中心在今年主動聯繫美術館團隊，並提出支付所有費用時，美術館熱切盼望着簽下這個協議。
“We invested very little money in the exhibition,” Mr. Wang said in a telephone interview. “We mostly just provided the venue.”
“我們在這場展覽中投入的資金很少，”王璜生在接受電話採訪時說。“我們主要提供場地。”
He added: “We have learned a lesson from this. In the future, we will be extremely careful when working with such companies.”
他還表示：“我們從中得到了教訓。未來與這類公司合作時，我們會十分謹慎。”
On its website, Bell Art Center describes itself as offering a “series of services such as research, teaching and preparation and display of artwork.” Beate Reifenscheid, the German co-curator of the exhibition and the director of the Ludwig Museum in Koblenz, Germany, is listed as the center’s “main curator and main art adviser.”
貝爾藝術中心網站上的信息顯示，它提供“一系列服務，比如藝術品研究、教學、籌備和展覽”。這場展覽的德方聯合策展人、位於德國科布倫茨的路德維希博物館(Ludwig Museum)館長貝亞特•賴芬沙伊德(Beate Reifenscheid)被列爲該中心的“主要策展人和藝術顧問”。
In a telephone interview, Ms. Reifenscheid disputed Mr. Kiefer’s statement, insisting that multiple attempts had been made to reach out to him through one of his friends and several dealers of his work. “We finally found out he personally had no time,” Ms. Reifenscheid said, declining to specify who relayed this information.
賴芬沙伊德在接受電話採訪時就基弗的聲明進行了反駁，堅稱他們曾通過基弗的一位朋友和代理他的幾名交易商多次聯繫他。“我們最終發現他個人沒有時間，”賴芬沙伊德說。他拒絕透露是誰傳達了這個信息。
To many within China’s art circles, the situation is surprising given the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum’s prominence as a government-backed institution and its past experience organizing solo shows featuring prominent Western artists like Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys. While many of these exhibitions were also organized with partner institutions, Mr. Wang said that the museum had not had any problems communicating with the artists or their estates.
這種情況讓中國藝術圈內的許多人感到意外。因爲作爲一家由政府支持的機構，中央美院美術館頗具聲望，而且曾經組織過安迪•沃霍爾(Andy Warhol)、約瑟夫•博伊斯(Joseph Beuys)等知名西方藝術家的個展。儘管這些展覽有許多也是與合作機構一起舉辦，但王璜生表示在與藝術家或他們的遺產管理人溝通方面，中央美院美術館沒有遇到過問題。
Some experts said the debate over the Kiefer show reflected a persistent problem in China, where professional practices sometimes remain at odds with international standards.
一些專家表示，有關基弗展覽的爭議反映出中國長期存在的一個問題，即專業操作有時還是會與國際標準發生衝突。
“In China, museums have been built at such a rapid pace that people haven’t had time to stop and think about the culture and ethics surrounding the content that’s going inside,” said Mr. Pi, the M+ curator. “China is so eager to be involved in the international community at a museum level, but it’s clear there is still a lot to learn.”
“在中國，各種藝術館不斷冒出來，人們沒有時間停下來思考有關展覽內容的文化和倫理問題，”M+博物館策展人皮力說。“中國急着在博物館層面融入國際社區，但它顯然還有很多東西需要學習。”
