美国国家公共电台 NPR Stories Of Syria's Uprising, And Its Backyard Funerals, In 'Gardens Speak'

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For the next few minutes, we're going to hear about people who are expressing political opposition¹ through art and protest. In Miami Beach this weekend, an art exhibition encourages visitors to lie in freshly dug graves to experience the horrors of the war in Syria. It's one of the most provocative² pieces mounted during Art Basel Miami Beach. That's an annual fair and marketplace that attracts artists and collectors from around the world. The work tells the stories of activists³ killed in the early days of the Syrian uprising who were often buried in their family's gardens. NPR's Greg Allen visited the exhibition.

GREG ALLEN, BYLINE⁴: Tania El Khoury splits her time between London and Beirut, where she helped found an artists' collective. Three years ago, moved by stories she was hearing about the Syrian uprising, she created an interactive⁵ work, "Gardens Speak." It grew out of an image she saw of a mother digging a grave for her son in her home garden because public funerals had become too dangerous.

TANIA EL KHOURY: I didn't know that this was happening. And I started to collect the stories and interviews. And this is when I had the idea that gardens can now speak all of these stories that are being buried in them.

ALLEN: In a room outside the exhibition, visitors - just 10 at a time - are first asked to remove their shoes and socks and put on long raincoats. Each person is given a card with a name, written in Arabic, of one of those killed in the first years of the Syrian uprising in places like Aleppo and Hama. Inside, lights are dim. There's a pot of freshly-laid soil with 10 wooden tombstones, each inscribed⁶ with the name of a war victim. Kneeling down as instructed, visitors use their hands to remove dirt near the headstone to hear the victims' stories.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: I was raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus.

ALLEN: One grave tells the story of a man identified as Abdul Wahid (ph).

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Abdul Wahid) I don't know how, but I don't care about anything other than taking part in the revolution.

ALLEN: He tells visitors, lying down with their heads close to his tombstone, that after taking part in protests against the Assad regime, he was detained and tortured. When he was released, he joined the resistance.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Abdul Wahid) The army had intensified⁷ its attack. I ran quickly. I was in such a hurry that I wore my T-shirt backwards⁸. I carried my rifle. And then before I could use it, I was shot 10 times from afar.

ALLEN: The stories are read by actors. They're taken from those of family members whom artist Tania El Khoury interviewed in Lebanon and over phone and Skype from Syria. El Khoury says it's up to each visitor to decide how deeply to engage with the work. Sarah Martinez (ph) was one of those who found herself standing⁹ barefoot in the damp soil.

SARAH MARTINEZ: It's very cold and wet and like, oh, my God, I'm standing in a grave. It was very touching¹⁰ and scary at the same time.

ALLEN: The experience takes about 40 minutes. And at 10 visitors at a time, the work isn't intended for a mass audience. But Tania El Khoury says the interactive experience allows participants to build a relationship with one of the hundreds of thousands killed in the Syrian fighting.

EL KHOURY: It takes you out of your comfort zone. It actually places you literally¹¹ in the story, rather just with a distance. And it works on that distance. You know, you are supposedly lying on a grave, but you're not really. You're on a designed place. You are listening to someone's voice, but you're not really.

ALLEN: "Gardens Speak" was first mounted in Lebanon in 2014 in Arabic. Since then, it's been translated to English, French and Italian and traveled widely. It opened in Miami Beach two days after the Supreme¹² Court allowed the Trump¹³ administration's ban on travel from six predominantly-Muslim countries to go forward, giving new perspective to stories like those of Abdul Wahid, whose family buried him quietly out of sight in their home garden.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Abdul Wahid) They put me under the pomegranate tree my mother planted for me. There were no other noise than the sound of shelling and the soil falling on me bit by bit.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Singing in foreign language).

ALLEN: Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

6 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

11 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。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。