美国国家公共电台 NPR 'More Than A Political Status': Ai WeiWei Captures Scale Of Global Refugee Crisis

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now to an artist who has been recognized all over the world for his art installations and dissident activism in China, activism that cost him years under house arrest. We're talking about Ai Weiwei. When his passport was reissued by the Chinese, Ai Weiwei embarked¹ on what might be his most ambitious project yet, an epic² film about the global refugee crisis, the largest forced migration³ since World War II. The film, "Human Flow," released yesterday, tries to capture both the enormous scale of the crisis - the miles-long lines of people toting their belongings⁴, the massive refugee camps - as well as the individual stories of people, including many children in desperate need. I spoke⁵ with Ai Weiwei recently about the film, and I started by asking if he saw himself as a refugee.

AI WEIWEI: Yes, 100 percent because I was born after the year my father criticized as, you know, enemy of the people. In China, that's the crime you can have. My father is simply a poet, a very well-known poet. So he has been exiled. I grew up with him in very remote desert area actually in Northwest China. So I personally experienced, you know, how people has been mistreated and, of course, also really punished for the crime he never really committed. So I share this kind of sentiment of people who miss everything and lost everything.

MARTIN: What do you hope your film will add to the - all of the discussion about the global migrant crisis?

AI: I think as a human being, if you sit in front of any of them, you look at their eyes, you immediately understand who they are. They just like you - brothers or sisters or your own children. You know, it's nothing different. But they very often made to see the news footage. We see some very dramatic or sentimental⁶. But admittedly, we can forget about them because there's very little human connection in there. It become some kind of story.

So my understanding is you really have to meet them to see who they are. Then you understand you're the one who can really take action. So we're - in human society, every tragedy's actually made by ourselves. And we have enough resource, if we do have some understanding of humanity, to use it to solve those problems, to help those people. By helping⁷ them, we understand ourselves because we are all part of it. We cannot give up humanity or to curse them away. This is never the answer.

MARTIN: The film shows scale in a way that is hard for me to describe without seeing it. I mean, there are many aerial shots where you see just vast seas of people on the move. But you also tell, as you said, individual stories where you talk to people about their experiences. Is there any story that you wish to highlight for us?

AI: The situation getting so bad that you have 65 million being pushed away from their home. Every second, there are people losing home. So yes, each of them have very sad and touching⁸ stories, but they're all the same. It's all as a result of our neglect in 21st century. You know, people are so privileged and have enough resource to help, but because we don't want to look at it, because our media doesn't really give the real true discussion on those shows, and our leadership so cold and lacking of compassion⁹ and imagination.

MARTIN: To that end, I was looking at some excerpts¹¹ from the film on YouTube. And there's an excerpt¹⁰ from you on YouTube talking about the film. And I must say, the comments are very ugly. They say that, you know, these people are rapists. And I just wonder, how do you - one does not know how seriously to take this. This could be like three people just, you know, sending a lot of nasty comments. But what if it does represent a significant - how do you understand that?

AI: I think it's not just a few people. You have the certain powerful party in this election in Germany, rightists, and they're really racist¹², and in the United States same. You know, you have this kind of brutality¹³ of violence towards colored people. And this is shocking. And this is fact. And you have a president not who protect those people but rather to set up policies to divide people or to build a wall.

MARTIN: Do you have - forgive me - but do you have any sympathy at all for the fear that some people have about refugees and migrants?

AI: I have great sympathy for them for the lacking of knowledge and that, as a result, lack of understanding of humanity and also underestimate their own possibilities to help another person, which can be considered as highest ritual in many, many religions. Just help someone. Never to say this is too big or it's not my problem. So I do have a great deepest sympathy for people who doesn't have a clear vision about the world and about themselves, you know, doesn't understand the value of life.

MARTIN: What is keeping you going at this point?

AI: My curiosity. I try to understand the world, you know, before it's too late. I'm quite old, 60 years old. And my knowledge is very narrow. And, you know, I'm still very naive¹⁴ in many ways. But I never really liked to really jump into a situation. And through this experience, I can learn something.

MARTIN: That is Ai Weiwei. He is an artist, activist¹⁵ and filmmaker. His new documentary, "Human Flow," is out this week. He was kind enough to join us in our studios in Washington, D.C. Ai Weiwei, thank you so much for speaking with us.

AI: Thank you.

1 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

2 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

3 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

4 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

9 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

10 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

11 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

12 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

13 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

14 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

15 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。