中德合办的基弗艺术展遭艺术家本人反对
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——中国一所顶尖的艺术学院正在面临批评，因为它罔顾艺术家安塞姆•基弗(Anselm Kiefer)本人意愿，举办了一个他的大型作品展。这位首屈一指的德国艺术家明确表示反对举办该展，称展览的组织者没有征求他的同意。
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.
在上周发表的一份声明中，基弗呼吁中国中央美术学院美术馆和德国汉堡的贝尔艺术中心(Bell Art Center)取消它们合办的“基弗在中国”展览。
“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.
“回顾我的职业生涯，我积极地参与到了所有我的大型国际展览中，而我在中国首场展览的组织者，却将我排除在这一过程之外，这让我感到深深的遗憾和沮丧，”基弗在声明中说。
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.
他在伦敦监督他的最新展览的布置工作，没有回应采访请求。该展览周三在柏孟塞白立方画廊(White Cube Bermondsey)开幕。
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.
尽管基弗提出了要求，但“基弗在中国”展览还是在上周六按照原计划开幕了，并将持续到1月8日。这个展览包含了大约85件作品，据称是首次在中国举行的基弗作品展。
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.
中央美术学院美术馆在开幕前发表的声明中强调，由于所有藏家都同意提供作品，因此这个展览不存在法律方面问题。组织者说大部分作品都来自一位个人藏家，但没有提及这位藏家的名字。
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.
但有些专家说，这是一个伦理问题。对于健在艺术家的作品展，很多博物馆通常会进一步争取艺术家本人的同意。
“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.”
筹备中的视觉文化博物馆M+的高级策划人皮力说，“这不仅是尊重艺术家，也是尊重观众。如果没有艺术家的参与，很难想象你如何从巨大的作品库中挑选出一个艺术家最好的作品，并把它们展示在有限的博物馆空间里。”
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.
中央美院美术馆馆在声明中将责任归咎于德方主办机构错误地让他们相信基弗会参与展览。“在与德方主办机构签定展览协议后，我们曾获知基弗先生并不赞同举办这个展览，”声明中写道。
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.
中央美院美术馆馆长王璜生表示，该馆多年来一直希望能做一场基弗作品展，但资金是个问题。所以当贝尔艺术中心在今年主动联系美术馆团队，并提出支付所有费用时，美术馆热切盼望着签下这个协议。
“We invested very little money in the exhibition,” Mr. Wang said in a telephone interview. “We mostly just provided the venue.”
“我们在这场展览中投入的资金很少，”王璜生在接受电话采访时说。“我们主要提供场地。”
He added: “We have learned a lesson from this. In the future, we will be extremely careful when working with such companies.”
他还表示：“我们从中得到了教训。未来与这类公司合作时，我们会十分谨慎。”
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.”
贝尔艺术中心网站上的信息显示，它提供“一系列服务，比如艺术品研究、教学、筹备和展览”。这场展览的德方联合策展人、位于德国科布伦茨的路德维希博物馆(Ludwig Museum)馆长贝亚特•赖芬沙伊德(Beate Reifenscheid)被列为该中心的“主要策展人和艺术顾问”。
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.
赖芬沙伊德在接受电话采访时就基弗的声明进行了反驳，坚称他们曾通过基弗的一位朋友和代理他的几名交易商多次联系他。“我们最终发现他个人没有时间，”赖芬沙伊德说。他拒绝透露是谁传达了这个信息。
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.
这种情况让中国艺术圈内的许多人感到意外。因为作为一家由政府支持的机构，中央美院美术馆颇具声望，而且曾经组织过安迪•沃霍尔(Andy Warhol)、约瑟夫•博伊斯(Joseph Beuys)等知名西方艺术家的个展。尽管这些展览有许多也是与合作机构一起举办，但王璜生表示在与艺术家或他们的遗产管理人沟通方面，中央美院美术馆没有遇到过问题。
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.
一些专家表示，有关基弗展览的争议反映出中国长期存在的一个问题，即专业操作有时还是会与国际标准发生冲突。
“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.”
“在中国，各种艺术馆不断冒出来，人们没有时间停下来思考有关展览内容的文化和伦理问题，”M+博物馆策展人皮力说。“中国急着在博物馆层面融入国际社区，但它显然还有很多东西需要学习。”
