VOA标准英语2013--隐藏的天赋:艺术家在摩加迪 沙再次出现（在线收听）

Hidden Talent: Artists Re-emerge in Mogadishu 隐藏的天赋:艺术家在摩加迪 沙再次出现

MOGADISHU — After years working in the shadow of war, Somalia’s  artists are stepping back out into public view and contributing to the  difficult discussions of a country struggling to find its identity. 

摩加迪沙,经过多年工作在战争的阴影,索马里的艺术家都退出公众的视野。

A garage in Mogadishu is a place of renewal for Somalia’s art scene.  Known as the Center for Research and Dialogue, it attracts artists who  kept their talents hidden during more than two decades of war.

One of the most prolific is Adan Farah Affey, who discovered painting  as a child in a Catholic orphanage in the city.

“The nuns admired my work and would bring me paintbrushes and tell me  to paint for them.  And when I had a better understanding of my skills,  I noticed I was better than the other kids,” recalls Affey.

Now, given a chance to express himself, there is no topic Affey is  afraid of. Affey takes his inspiration from the world around him -- a  country overcoming years of war. He blames many of Somalia’s troubles  on a broken political system.

“We don’t have any natural disasters, we don’t have tornadoes,  tsunamis or Hurricane Katrina. Our disasters are all political,” notes  Affey.

The work of several artists is on display in an upstairs gallery --  much of it expressing the personal experiences of war and the struggle  of the working artist.

Project Manager Mohamed Yahye says the center is working to give the  artists wider exposure.

“Some of them are being taken to Europe, some of them are being taken  to America for showing the pieces as an exhibition.  So we’re hoping  to get New York or Los Angeles in the next stages to push these artists  to the next level,” said Yahye.

As the artists come out of the shadows of war, and into a new era of  hope, it is their dream to one day show the world a portrait of a new  Somalia.