纪录片《文明》 第147期 初次邂逅（1）（在线收听）

Ideas that underpinned an empire.

这些观念构成了整个帝国的基础

The public were fascinated,

公众在沉迷的同时

but also troubled by what they saw.

也对眼见所见感到忧虑

What bothered them was that

他们困惑的是

this was the work of an African society

这些杰出的艺术品来自非洲社会

and almost everybody in the 19th century believed that

而在十九世纪几乎所有人都认为

Africans lacked the technical skills needed to produce great art

非洲缺乏诞生伟大艺术所必须的技术水平

and the cultural sophistication needed to appreciate it.

以及需要欣赏这些所需的文化多样性

It was, in fact, widely believed that the people

事实上 那时的人们广泛认为

of the Dark Continent had no history and no culture

非洲大陆既无历史也无文化

and were incapable of generating this thing called civilisation.

更是无法创造文明

These reliefs that so disturbed the Victorians

这些困扰着维多利亚时期人们的雕塑

are the Benin Bronzes.

被称作贝宁青铜器

They're now regarded as one of Africa's greatest treasures.

如今它们被视作非洲最伟大的艺术宝藏之一

Created from the 16th century onwards

自十六世纪其诞生起

in the ancient West African kingdom,

它们便记录着古西非王国

they record Benin's great kings,

贝宁王国的历任国王

her wealth, her military power

所拥有的财富和军事力量

and the history that Africans were supposed to lack.

以及从未被认为存在的非洲历史

I've been coming to see these works of art my whole life.

我的一生中曾多次见过这些艺术品

I was first brought to see them

当我的家人带着我第一次见到它们时

when I was just a little boy by my family.

我还是个小孩

I've spent hours and hours over the years standing here

这些年我花了无数个小时

looking at them and, as someone born in Africa,

凝视着它们 作为一个在非洲人出生的人

feeling a strong sense of connection to them.

我能感受到与这些艺术品之间的心灵相通

But despite all their beauty,

尽管它们如此美丽

they are to me tragic works of art,

对我而言却是一件件悲剧性的作品

because they are loaded with a sense of loss.

因为它们的到来承载着惨痛的代价

And that's because today

那是因为今天

they're not in Nigeria among the people

它们无法回到尼日利亚人的手中

whose ancestors made them,

他们的先祖铸造了这些艺术品

they're here in London, in the British Museum.

它们被放置在伦敦的大英博物馆

The Benin Bronzes came to Britain

贝宁青铜器是作为掠夺的战利品

as the spoils of an act of plunder.

而来到英国的

In 1897, British colonial forces attacked Benin City.

1897年 英国殖民者入侵了贝宁城

It was an act of revenge for the ambush

这次侵略是为了报复贝宁人

of an earlier British expedition.

早先伏击了一组英国探险队

They deposed the King, the Oba Ovonramwen, sent him into exile

殖民者废黜了国王奥翁拉姆文

and burned his palace to the ground.

将他驱逐并将其宫殿毁之一炬

They looted the brass plaques and statues

他们掠走了曾用于装饰宫墙的

that once decorated the palace walls,

青铜匾和青铜雕像

took them back to London and sold them off.

殖民者将其带回伦敦拍卖掉

Some were put on display in the British Museum.

其中一些被展示在大不列颠博物馆内