VOA标准英语2013--埃及的动荡引发新艺术的产生

 

Egypt Turmoil¹ Inspires New Art  埃及的动荡引发新艺术的产生

CAIRO — On an island in the Nile, surrounded by the tumultuous city of Cairo, award-winning artist Mohamed Abla has been commenting on Egyptian politics for decades, he adds, politics have transformed the art.

This little boat is attached to a chain across a small waterway-part of the Nile River in Cairo. 

It carries passengers back and forth² across from the mainland to the island of Qorsaia for less than 15 cents per passenger.

A few minutes later, passengers get off the boat and the quiet farms of Qorsaia are both in the center of the city and worlds away.  

Artist Mohamed Abla has a house on the island, where he creates artwork that has been shown across Europe and America, in Cairo.  

In recent years, he said his art, like many other elements of Egyptian culture, has been focused on politics and the struggle to create a free, productive society out of the current chaos³.

“I hope that we are going to develop our own democracy.  Our own I idea," he said. "An Egyptian way of doing democracy.”

In June, Abla stood with protesters demanding the fall of the government, then led by the Muslim Brotherhood⁴, which he says tried to squash free expression.

But, he said, wholesale⁵ arrests of members will only escalate⁶ tensions that have left as many as 1,000 dead in recent weeks.  

Most died in battles as security forces attacked sit-ins, and dispersed⁷ rallies at gunpoint.

“Now part of the Egyptian society has been discussing that we are not going to get rid of Muslim Brothers, all.  We have to accept that there are young Muslim Brothers and some people that were not part of the violence,” Abla explaioned.

Military rule will also not stick, he says, because since the uprising that overthrew⁸ Hosni Mubarak in 2011, mass protests have become a part of Egyptian culture.

“I remember after the 18 days of 2011 the square was empty and I felt very lonely," Abla stated. "Many people they missed this atmosphere.”

Before the 18 days of protest that lead to Mubarak’s fall, he said, Egyptian art reflected local traditions and style.  Nowadays in Egypt, he said, art is less timely and more about shaping society.

“This changed the arts very much.  The people who used to make arts in a usual traditional [way]-now they do nothing because it is over now.  Now is the time of art that moves the people," Abla said. "Art that is reflective of the situation.”

In his most recent pieces, Abla documents rallies in Tahrir Square over the past two and a half years.  

In several pieces, pictures of protesters and soldiers are hung on strings⁹ in rows, rather than pasted like in a traditional collage¹⁰ to reflect what he says is the irony¹¹ in a common expression: “Don’t hang your dirty laundry.”  Free expression, he says, can literally¹² mean revealing a nations’ “dirt” and it is part of the path to freedom. 

1 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

5 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

6 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

7 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

8 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

9 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

10 collage   

n.拼贴画；v.拼贴；把……创作成拼贴画

参考例句：

• A collage of coloured paper covers a table top.一副彩纸拼贴画盖在桌面上。
• He has used a mixture of mosaic,collage and felt-tip pen.他混合使用了马赛克、拼贴画和毡头笔。

11 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。