贺煜
9月10日、17日,英国驻重庆总领事馆分别在渝举行“连接·重启”第二届中英当代艺文展演之“威尔士之夜”和“苏格兰之夜”活动,邀请重庆各界嘉宾欣赏艺文展演中的威尔士作品,品味其多元文化;观赏纪录片《风暴之眼》,领略傳奇画家莫里森的艺术人生。
第二届中英当代艺文展演由英国文化教育协会主办,英国威尔士政府支持,是首个促进中英文化和创意交流的线上展演#Connected By Creativity的延续。活动期间,通过线上和线下结合的模式,共开展了近40场文化表演和项目展示。
“威尔士之夜”:3部威尔士影视作品呈现活力多元文化
“威尔士之夜”活动放映并赏析了《以石为启》“交织”等3部精彩的威尔士影视作品。
电影《以石为启》是威尔士国际青年电影节“神话与传说”国际制片项目推出的作品之一。该片是一部关于北威尔士的联合国教科文组织世界文化遗产的简短纪录片,讲述生活在布莱瑙·费斯蒂尼格这个北威尔士小镇上采石工的故事,由来自克罗地亚和哥伦比亚的两位青年女性电影人制作。
“交织”是由威尔士国家级艺术团体—文学威尔士和威尔士国家舞团合作推出的跨艺术形式双语短片项目,包含《何处为乡》《漫长的一天》《三联诗》《美好将至》等多部短片。项目由一众舞蹈家和诗人在新冠肺炎疫情期间发起,每部短片都反映了艺术家的个人经历、内心恐惧和殷切希望,同时也让观众得以一窥彼时彼刻的威尔士和世界。
第三部短片展示了当今艺术界顶级奖项—Artes Mundi国际当代艺术奖获得者普拉巴卡尔·帕克布奇的系列参展作品。帕克布奇取材威尔士采矿群体的共同文化遗产,创作了一组由系列绘画、横幅和艺术品构成的宏伟装置作品。
“威尔士以特色鲜明的艺术、文化与创意产业,在世界文明中独树一帜。此次带来的3部作品展示了威尔士活力与多元兼具的文化。”威尔士政府首席部长马克·德雷克福德在视频致辞中表示,中国和威尔士是重要的艺术与文化合作伙伴,近年来双方的合作蓬勃发展。新冠肺炎疫情为艺术与文化产业造成诸多挑战,也衍生出了更多创意,寻找新的合作方式分享作品。
据介绍,今年8月,威尔士的板岩地貌入选世界遗产名录,成为威尔士第四个被联合国教科文组织批准的世界文化遗产项目,也是英国第33处入选世界遗产名录的景观。
苏格兰之夜:《风暴之眼》带领观众领略传奇画家莫里森的艺术人生
在“苏格兰之夜”,英国驻重庆总领事馆与大家分享了有关传奇画家詹姆斯·莫里森的纪录片《风暴之眼》。该片由英国导演安东尼·巴克斯特执导。影片在格拉斯哥电影节进行全球首映,后又入选美国、加拿大和欧洲等地各大电影节。
詹姆斯·莫里森被公认为英国最优秀的风景画家之一,《风暴之眼》正是围绕着莫里森身为风景画家的真谛所进行的一次精彩探索,以极具普适性的视角讲述了在不断衰老退化的身体机能和终将逝去的必然命运面前,艺术天才略带凄然色彩的抗争。
长期以来,莫里森深受视力逐步衰退所困扰。85岁高龄的他在进行了一系列手术之后,决定再次拿起画笔,为其最后一次个展作画。与此同时,莫里森还同意让电影制片人安东尼·巴克斯特跟随并拍摄其丹青生涯的终章。
这部影片以穿插式叙事的方式,呈现与年龄抗争的老年莫里森和年轻时代意气风发的画家莫里森,借助50年前拍摄的珍贵资料带领观众追溯这位风景画家的一生。
图片/英国驻重庆总领事馆提供
The 2nd UK-China Contemporary Culture Festival
"Welsh Night" and "Scottish Night" bring vitality and diverse culture
On September 10 and 17, the British Consulate General in Chongqing respectively held the "Welsh Night" and "Scottish Night" events of #ReConnect the 2nd UK-China Contemporary Culture Festival in Chongqing. It invited guests from all walks of life in the city to appreciate Welsh works in the culture exhibition and savor its diverse culture as well as watch the documentary Eye of the Storm to gain some knowledge of the artistic life of the legendary painter James Morrison.
Organized by the British Council and sponsored by the Welsh Government, the 2nd UK-China Contemporary Culture Festival is the continuation of #Connected By Creativity, the first online exhibition to promote UK-China cultural and creative exchanges. During the event, nearly 40 cultural performances and programs were unfolded by combining online and offline forms.
"Welsh Night": Three Welsh films present vitality and diverse culture
"Welsh Night" showed and analyzed three wonderful Welsh films, such as Or Craig/From the Rock and "Plethu/Weave".
The film Or Craig/From the Rock is part of an international film-making program "Prosiect Mythau (Myths and Legends) Program" which takes place at the International Youth Film Festival of Wales. A short documentary of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage about North Wales, the film tells the story of slate miners in the small town of Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales and is produced by two young female filmmakers from Croatia and Colombia.
"Plethu/Weave" is a cross-artform bilingual collaboration between two Welsh national arts companies, Literature Wales and National Dance Company Wales, including many short films such as Ble Mae Bilaadi?, Spell For A New Beginning, Triptych, Good Things to Come and so on. Each short film in the program reflects the personal experiences, fears, and hopes of the artists, and offers the viewers a glimpse into Wales and the world at that time in time.
The third short film shows the exhibition works of Prabhakar Pachpute, the winner of the Artes Mundi International Contemporary Art Award, the top award in the art world. Prabhakar Pachpute draws on a shared cultural heritage with the Welsh mining community to create an installation of paintings, banners, and objects.
"Wales is unique in the world civilization with its distinctive art, culture and creative industries. The three works brought this time show the vitality and diversity of Welsh culture,” said Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales. He expressed in his video speech that China and Wales are important art and cultural partners, and the bilateral cooperation has flourished in recent years. COVID-19 has posed many challenges for the art and culture industry, but also generated more creativity to identify new ways of cooperation to share works.
It is reported that in August this year, the slate landform of Wales was selected into the World Heritage List, becoming the fourth world cultural heritage project approved by UNESCO in Wales and the 33rd landscape selected into the World Heritage List in the UK.
Scottish Night: Eye of the Storm leads the audience to appreciate the artistic life of the legendary painter James Morrison
On "Scottish Night", the British Consulate General in Chongqing shared with everyone the documentary Eye of the Storm about the legendary painter James Morrison. Directed by British director Anthony Baxter, the film has been selected for major film festivals in the United States, Canada and Europe, following its World Premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival.
James Morrison is recognized as one of the best landscape painters in Britain. Eye of the Storm is a fascinating exploration centering on Morrison to identify what it means to be a landscape painter. It is also a poignant and universal story of a creative mind dealing with his own mortality, and the physical frailties that catch up with all of us.
For a long time, Morrison has suffered from progressive deterioration of vision. At the age of 85, after a series of surgeries, he decided to pick up the brush again to paint for his last individual exhibition. Meanwhile, Morrison also agreed to let film producer Anthony Baxter follow and shoot the finale of his career.
The film movingly intertwines Morrison's struggle with old age, with his lively views as a much younger painter, captured in remarkable archive filmed over 50 years ago.
Photos /British Consulate in Chongqing