魂游

wenyau

從玻利維亞到香港的幸福與失落

經過幾近三十小時的航程，我戰戰兢兢的從香港到達地球的另一端－－南美中部的玻利維亞，著陸聖克魯斯（Santa Cruz）國際機場，準備參加Km.0 Urbano國際藝術家交流工作坊。接待我的工作坊籌辦人之一Raquel Schwartz駛著一輛簇新的豪華日本房車說，聖克魯斯是玻利維亞第二大的城市，亦是近年來南美洲發展最快、本國及鄰近國家人口陸續遷往的城市。低地的亞熱帶氣候為夏天帶來燦爛的陽光，路上亂駛堵著的車子從不響號，在兩旁都不過是三四層高樓房的長街上，這裏總有份熱鬧輕鬆、懶洋洋的感覺。

兩星期的工作坊，與二十多個來自拉丁美洲、歐美、台灣等地及玻利維亞本國的年青藝術家，留守於聖克魯斯當代藝術博物館內，在自由、隨意的氣氛下一起吃喝一起討論一起閒聊一起創作、展覽與玩樂，心裏存著的，同是那種熱鬧輕鬆、懶洋洋的感覺。

玻利維亞是南美洲最貧窮的國家之一，政治動盪，當地的藝術家都說，國家沒錢資助藝術，所以籌辦Km.0的資金來自一些本地或海外的文化及商業機構與私人贊助。而舉行工作坊的博物館，只是一所其貌不揚的平房，一般的展覽設備欠奉－－沒掛畫軸、沒射燈、沒空調等，但二十多個藝術家在佔用的不同空間裏卻是從容的結集或各自工作、做裝置、雕塑或演出；工作坊籌辦人也不迫的協力借來展覽作品需要器材如影碟機、投影機等。參與的藝術家大部份來自拉丁美洲，說西班牙語，卻不減與其他地區藝術家的交流，舉首投足卻是盡在不言中的摯誠又互相扶持。工作坊最後以公開展覽終結，亦有不少行為或即場演出，當中不少都是結合其他藝術家協力而成的作品，表現了自身對生存狀態的感受；而幾位來自不同地方的藝術家在工作坊中亦一拍即合，創作了一隊虛擬樂團「Miss Magenta」，甚至引來大量媒體報導，為展覽引來不少意外觀眾。

挾著與二十多位藝術家朋友在聖克魯斯的共同生活體驗和友誼回到香港，我想，我們在享受「文明」的幸福還是失落呢？至少在玻利維亞，制度化不來的藝術和創作，卻更見人性的體恤和關懷；而我的2006年創作計劃，就落在一份份的申請表格上，聽候重重關卡的發落……

Km.0 URBANO International Artists’ Workshop: How I Laid Back in the Tropical Sweats

After 30 hours on the flights and transits in 2 airports, I arrived at Santa Cruz and started an “exotic” adventure – the tropical sunshine and the swinging hammocks, sweats on my neck and delectable food in the back garden, singing and dancing and partying all came into my mind at the very first moments, and after all it was the friendship between artists from different parts of the world and the intensive exchange of ideas and cultures that impressed and stimulated me the most.

Almost 30 artists participated in the workshop, half of them local artists and half of them from Latin America, the USA, Sweden, Iceland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. As one of the only two participating Asian artists, the workshop offered me alienated yet very inspiring experience of meeting artists of different cultures in a focused and intensive setting. Within the two weeks of residency, artists exchanged ideas of art making and world-views in informal occasions such as meal time, hanging around in the town and resting in the hostels, and formal occasions such as presentation, discussion, working in studios and symposium. Trust and mutual support built within the group facilitated us to produce our work in an experimental and inter-disciplinary approach which widened our horizons and opened up creative possibilities and, most importantly, let us concentrate on our art-making process in a well-supported environment.

The cultural clashes I experienced in traveling in Bolivia and meeting other artists during the workshop were particularly stimulating. The participating artists in the workshop, might not have a common language, but nothing had prevented our body, our mind or even just a blink or a smile from communicating with each others. Even in a stationary shop, I only used my gestures and facial expression to show the keeper what I wanted to buy because I could not speak any languages of this country. So on and so forth, I was very inspired by these speechless moments that reverted the meaningfulness of languages and therefore created my work of installation and live performance “¡Hola, Santa Cruz!” out of my such “exotic” experience. My work, which explored the ambiguity of language in the inter-cultural communication with people from different cultures speaking different languages, received acclaims from local critics and curators and had attracted a wide range of audience in public space.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Home Affairs Bureau which financially supports some of my traveling expenses of this trip and to thank the Km.0 URBANO organizer which created such a meaningful encounter for me and other artists. Cultural exchange is not only about meeting people of different cultures, but also its result of reflection upon one’s own culture in an alienated and distant perspective. The workshop has widened my scope of artistic practice by offering me valuable experience of cultural exchange and professional development in both a creative capacity and a critical stance.