僅僅只是開始

在印度舉辦中國芭蕾專場演出，說實話，最初，“今日中國”藝術周的工作人員是有點“緊張”的——中國芭蕾能否引發印度公眾的共鳴，特別是很多從未看過芭蕾演出的觀眾，能不能接受這種藝術形式？

“復相·疊影——廣州影像三年展2017”于2017年12月15日至2018年3月8日在廣東美術館舉辦。圖為卡約·里茲烏斯的攝影作品《塔巴提歐卡》Simultaneous Eidos —— Guangzhou Image Triennial 2017 has been held at Guangdong Museum of Art from December 15, 2017 to March 8, 2018. Tabatioca by Caio Reisewitz

結果如何？兩場演出謝幕時，觀眾全部起立鼓掌，眾多市民涌入后臺爭相與中國芭蕾舞者合影；那格浦爾市報紙The Hitavada第二天一早就在頭版刊發演出的巨幅照片，并在文化版面以幾乎整版的篇幅報道這一藝術盛宴……在新德里和那格浦爾，中國芭蕾藝術在“今日中國”藝術周的平臺上獲得印度主流社會的極大追捧。

曾經，有個叫揚科·薩佛諾夫的保加利亞攝影師繪制了一幅“世界偏見地圖”，以此嘲諷全球地域歧視。其中對印度的描述是這樣的——美國人眼里：“各種咖喱”，伊朗人眼里：“亞洲小英國”，印尼人眼里：“寶萊塢”，中國人眼里：“沒廁所”……真正的印度到底是怎樣的？或許哪一種說法都對，也可能哪一種說法都充滿了偏見，正如18世紀意大利劇作家哥爾多尼所說的：“不出國門的人充滿了偏見”——每當一個人面對一種不同于自身的文化，他必然會產生帶有偏見的想象，而深入當地，積極交流，則是“去魅”的唯一途徑。

古人說，“紙上得來終覺淺，絕知此事要躬行”。中國文藝正是秉持著“要躬行”的態度，在世界舞臺展示自我，引進他者，這就如“今日中國”藝術周的印度首秀，和我們這2018年第一期的雜志一樣——僅僅是個開始。

It is genuinely true that the personnel of "China Today " Art Week were a little "nervous" at the very beginning of the special performance of the Chinese ballet in India--- whether the Chinese ballet can arouse the resonance of the Indian public, especially for those who have never seen ballet performance, can they accept this art form?

And the result is? All the audiences rose in applause at the time of the curtain call of the two performances. Many citizens poured into the background trying to photos with the Chinese ballet dancers. TheHitavada, a local newspaper in Nagpur made a huge front-page photo of the show on the very next morning, and the cultural page covered this art feast with almost the full page ... In New Delhi and Nagpur, the Chinese ballet has gained immense popularity among mainstream Indian society on the platform of "China Today".

There was once a Bulgarian photographer, Yanko Tsvetkov, who has drawn a "Map of World Prejudices" as a source of ridicule for global geographical discrimination. One of the descriptions of India is follows: in the eyes of the Americans: "All kinds of curry", for Iranian: "Little Britain in Asia", for Indonesian: "Bollywood", and for the Chinese: "No toilet"... what exactly is India? Perhaps any of these statements are true and might be biased in any way, as the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni in the 18thcentury said: "The one who hasn’t been abroad is full of prejudice." Whenever a person faces a type of culture different from his or her own, he or she will inevitably have a prejudiced imagination. However,the in-depth and active exchanges in the country will be the exclusive way to "change the impression."The ancients said that "Practice goes deeper than theoretic knowledge". It, the Practice, is the exact attitude upheld by the Chinese literature and art, presenting themselves while introducing others. This is just like the debut of "China Today" Art Week in India and our first edition in 2018 - it is just a Beginning.