A brief history of religion in art - TED-Ed

宗教艺术的简短历史 - TED-Ed

翻译人员: Yuanqing Edberg 校对人员: Stephanie Chen

It's only been the last few hundreds years or so

that Western civilization has been putting art in museums,

仅仅在过去的几百年里

at least museums resembling

the public institutions we know today.

西方文明已经把艺术 放入博物馆中，

Before this, for most, art served other purposes.

博物馆至少相似于

我们今天所知的公共机关

在此之前，艺术对于 大多数人来说有其它目的。

What we call fine art today

今天我们叫它艺术，

was, in fact, primarily how people experienced

实际上，主要是人们是如何经历

an aesthetic dimension of religion.

这一宗教审美观

Paintings, sculpture, textiles and illuminations

绘画，雕塑，纺织和阐释

were the media of their time,

对于它们的时间来说就是媒介，

supplying vivid imagery

提供生动的图像

to accompany the stories of the day.

并且伴随那天的故事。

In this sense, Western art

从某种意义上讲，西方艺术

shared a utilitarian purpose

与世界上其他文化共同拥有

with other cultures around the world,

同一个目标。

some of whose languages incidentally have no word for art.

艺术是无法用语言去形容的。

So how do we define what we call art?

那么我们该如何 定义有我们嘴上说的艺术？

Generally speaking, what we're talking about here

一般来说，我们在此讨论的

is work that visually communicates

是视觉传达的工作

meaning beyond language,

就是说超乎了语言范畴

either through representation

也超过了表达

or the arrangement of visual elements in space.

或者说是在空间中 排列的视觉元素。

Evidence of this power of iconography,

证明了图片的力量，

or ability of images to convey meaning,

或者说图片传达意义的能力，

can be found in abundance

如果我们通过世界上主要的宗教历史

if we look at art from

来看待艺术

the histories of our major world religions.

会发现更多。

Almost all have, at one time or another in their history,

在同一时间或者 其他的历史上几乎都有，

gone through some sort of aniconic phase.

是经历了某种无象征的阶段。

Aniconism prohibits any visual depiction of the divine.

无偶像伦禁止任何 对神圣进行视觉描述。

This is done in order to avoid idolatry,

这样做是为了避免盲目崇拜，

or confusion between the representation of divinity and divinity itself.

或混淆神本身和神的表示。

Keeping it real, so to speak,

可以说，是为了

in the relationship between the individual and the divine.

在个人和神的关系上保持真实。

However, this can be a challenge to maintain,

然而， 这可能是一个需要维持的挑战，

given that the urge to visually represent and interpret

鉴于一种冲动来视觉化的表到

the world around us

我们周围的世界

is a compulsion difficult to suppress.

是一个很难抑制的冲动。

For example, even today,

例如，即使在今天，

where the depiction of Allah or the Prophet Muhammad is prohibited,

对真主或先知穆罕穆德 的描述是禁止的，

an abstract celebration of the divine

一个抽象庆祝的神

can still be found in arabesque patterns of Islamic textile design,

可以在阿拉伯样式 或伊斯兰图案中发现，

with masterful flourishes of brushwork

有着娴熟的画工

and Arabic calligraphy,

与阿拉伯书法，

where the words of the prophet

先知的话

assume a dual role as both literature and visual art.

是文学和视觉的双重艺术。

Likewise, in art from the early periods

同样，早期艺术关于

of Christianity and Buddhism,

基督教和佛教，

the divine presence of the Christ and the Buddha

神展示了基督和佛陀

do not appear in human form

没有人类形体

but are represented by symbols.

却有符号表示。

In each case,

每种情况下，

iconographic reference is employed

引用肖像是

as a form of reverence.

作为一种敬畏。

Anthropomorphic representation,

拟人化表示，

or depiction in human form,

或描述成人的形体，

eventually became widespread in these religions

最终在宗教中成为普遍

only centuries later,

仅一世纪以后，

under the influence of the cultural traditions surrounding them.

在周围文化的影响下。

Historically speaking,

从历史上说，

the public appreciation of visual art

公共视觉艺术欣赏

in terms other than traditional, religious or social function

除了传统宗教 或社会功能

is a relatively new concept.

是一个相对新的概念。

Today, we fetishize the fetish, so to speak.

今天，我们越来越盲目迷恋。

We go to museums to see art from the ages,

我们去博物馆看过去的艺术，

but our experience of it there

但我们的经验

is drastically removed from the context

被彻底的从情景中删去，

in which it was originally intended to be seen.

也删去了那些本来应该需要被看到的。

It might be said that the modern viewer

这可能是说现代观众

lacks the richness of engagement

缺乏丰富的参与

that she has with contemporary art,

观众经常接触现代艺术，

which has been created relevant to her time

艺术的创造和观众处在的历史阶段有关联，

and speaks her cultural language.

并说着相关的文化语言。

It might also be said that the history of what we call art

也有可能是我们称之为 艺术的历史

is a conversation that continues on,

是一个继续的交谈，

as our contemporary present passes into what will be

我们当代的那些将会

some future generation's classical past.

成为未来一代经典的过去。

It's a conversation that reflects

这是一个反应了

the ideologies, mythologies, belief systems and taboos

意识形态，神话， 信仰和禁忌的谈话

and so much more of the world in which it was made.

和这么多东西。

But this is not to say that work from another age

但是这并不是说为另一个时代工作

made to serve a particular function in that time

为那时特定的用途

is dead or has nothing to offer the modern viewer.

死亡或对当代没有贡献。

Even though in a museum setting

即使在博物馆

works of art from different places and times

不同时期地方的艺术

are presented alongside each other,

摆在靠在左右，

isolated from their original settings,

从原来的的设置分离出

their juxtaposition has benefits.

他们放在一起是有益的。

Exhibits are organized by curators,

展品是由策展人组织的，

or people who've made a career

或职业人士

out of their ability to recontextualize or remix

超出他们的能力来搭配

cultural artifacts in a collective presentation.

使文物一起展出。

As viewers, we're then able to consider the art

作为观众，我们可以考虑艺术

in terms of a common theme that might not be apparent

在一个不明显的共同主题

in a particular work

在一个特定的工作

until you see it alongside another,

知道你看到它并排，

and new meanings can be derived and reflected upon.

并可以派生新的含义。

If we're so inclined,

如果我们有心，

we might even start to see every work of art

我们甚至开始看每个作品

as a complementary part of some undefined, unified whole

作为一个未定义的整体的补充

of past human experience,

对过去的人的经历，

a trail that leads right to our doorstep

一条小径到我家门口

and continues on with us,

并继续和我们一起，

open to anyone who wants to explore it.

向所有想探索它的人敞开。