Marisa Fick-Jordan: The wonders of Zulu wire art

譯者: Sunny Kan Ngai Hang 審譯者: Wang-Ju Tsai

The decorative use of wire in southern Africa

使用線來裝飾在非洲南部

dates back hundreds of years.

已經有數百年的歷史.

But modernization actually brought communication

現代化不止為我們帶來通訊

and a whole new material, in the form of telephone wire.

還有電話線一類的新材料.

Rural to urban migration meant that newfound industrial materials

農村人口向城市遷移意味著新發現的工業原料

started to replace hard-to-come-by natural grasses.

開始取代得來不易的天然草類材質.

So, here you can see the change

在這裡你可以看到材料的改變

from use -- starting to use contemporary materials.

開始使用現代的材料

These pieces date back from the '40s to the late '50s.

這些作品是40年代到50年代末

In the '90s, my interest and passion for transitional art forms

在九十年代，我對過渡形式藝術的興趣和熱情,

led me to a new form,

帶我找到一個新的（編織）樣式，

which came from a squatter camp outside Durban.

這樣式是來自德班外圍的一個貧民區。

And I got the opportunity to start working with this community

而且我得到了機會和這個社區合作,

at that point, and started developing, really,

並由此開始發展，

and mentoring them in terms of scale, in terms of the design.

並在規模和設計方面給他們指導。

And the project soon grew from five to 50 weavers in about a year.

編織人員在一年之間從五個增長到五十個

Soon we had outgrown the scrap yards, what they could provide,

很快地，我們的規模已經把他們提供的廢料都用完了

so we coerced a wire manufacturer to help us,

所以我們被迫向電線製造商求助,

and not only to supply the materials on bobbins,

不僅要他們提供綫料,

but to produce to our color specifications.

還請他們生產我們要的顏色。

At the same time, I was thinking, well,

同時，我在想

there's lots of possibility here to produce contemporary products,

這裡有生產現代產品的商機,

away from the ethnic, a little bit more contemporary.

小一點民族色彩，多一點現代化.

So I developed a whole range around -- mass-produced range --

因此，我制定了一系列大規模的生產，

that obviously fitted into a much higher-end decor market

顯然地這更合高級裝飾市場的口味,

that could be exported and also service our local market.

可以出口及賣給本地市場.

We started experimenting, as you can see, in terms of shapes,

你可以看到我們開始實驗，在形狀，形式上，

forms. The scale became very important,

計劃的規模也開始大了起來

and it's become our pet project. It's successful,

它已經成為我們的最愛產品，十分成功

it's been running for 12 years. And we supply the Conran shops,

這計劃已經運作12年了，我們還供應給Conran商店,

and Donna Karan, and so it's kind of great.

和Donna Karan, 算是很成功.

This is our group, our main group of weavers.

這是我們的小組，我們的主要編織人員。

They come on a weekly basis to Durban.

他們每週到德班來

They all have bank accounts.

他們都有銀行帳戶。

They've all moved back to the rural area where they came from.

他們都遷回自己的農村家鄉.

It's a weekly turnaround of production.

這是每週一次的生產過程。

This is the community that I originally showed you the slide of.

這是我一開始用幻燈片顯示過的社區.

And that's also modernized today,

在今天也現代化了,

and it's supporting work for 300 weavers.

我們現在提供300名織工就業職位.

And the rest says it all.

最後這張投影片説明了一切.（參加這個編織計劃改變了我的一生）

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）