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劉慧德：現形記Heidi Lau: Apparition

意大利威尼斯 Venice, Italy, 2019

 

第58屆威尼斯國際藝術雙年展中國澳門展區
58th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition - Collateral Event from Macao, China

策展人 Curator：林小雯 Sio Man Lam

藝術家 Artist：劉慧德 Heidi Lau

展覽日期 Exhibition Period： 2019. 5. 11 - 2019. 11. 10

展覽地點 Exhibition Venue： 意大利威尼斯 中國澳門展區 Macau China Pavilion, Campo della Tana, Arsenale, Castello, 2126/A, Venice, Italy

主辦 Organiser：澳門文化局 藝術博物館 Macau Museum of Art, Macau Cultural Affairs Bureau

策展人言 Curatorial Statement

2018 年，澳門文化評論人李展鵬出版了《隱形澳門》一書，書中寫到，長久以來，澳門總是以一種隱形的方式存在，若非博彩旅遊業令澳門經濟表現羨煞旁人，但同時又衍生各種社會問題而為人詬病，澳門幾乎從來不被當成一個“問題”來討論。“不僅外來的人看不見澳門，澳門的本地人也看不清自己。”
 
“隱”與“現”於是成為當下澳門人文化身份乃至藝術創作的焦慮所在。問題是，如何讓“隱形”的澳門“現形”？如何在令澳門“現形”的同時，不至於隱藏城市的其他方面？一個吊詭的問題是，當人口只有六十萬的一座城市，一年卻迎來三千萬的外來遊客，城市空間皆被遊客佔據，城市規劃亦被遊客左右，誰在真實地形塑著這座流動的城市？澳門人會否一不小心，竟活在了澳門之外？
 
本屆威尼斯雙年展以“願你生活在有趣的時代”為題，暗指當下全球的社會動盪與人心惶惶。這一美式諺語常被指來自中國古代的咒語，卻無人考究出真實的出處——總策展人雷夫．魯戈夫借此指涉當今媒體及政治生態中，種種來歷不明的子虛之說所擁有的驚人而荒誕的影響力。然而，巫師的咒語也好，政治家的狂言亦罷，一座城市從天主聖名之城搖身變為世界級的賭城，都只因掌握話語權的人在引導人們的想像；作為應對政治和社會現實的策略，與其採取否定的態度，不如提出一種另類的想像模式？
 
是次展覽以《現形記》為題，名為書寫現形中的澳門，實質卻在試圖解構當下形形色色被簡化的澳門“形象”，揭示澳門混雜的文化身份。女媧創世的神話寓言為本地悠久的信仰與民間生活史證言；滿天神佛的祖屋讓時光定格，勾起近代澳門人忽視和遺忘的個體和集體記憶；光怪陸離的賭場之旅瓦解權威的現代美學，高呼後現代的解構、慾望與狂想；舊時娛園的九曲幽徑揭示著澳門與博彩業之間糾纏不清的歷史。
 
藝術家劉慧德成長於澳門，現居紐約，真正是活在澳門之外的澳門人。然而，她的藝術創作卻並未遠離這一片家園和故里——透過對家園記憶的精神重塑，對城市廢墟的自省式回望，對鬼神傳說的寄意，藝術家以迂回的方式表達其個人的政治寄語和對城市、身份的再想像，既走出了中西文化交融的主流敘事，亦拒絕對他者採用盲目直接的否定和批判。

借用傳統的民間智慧和邊緣的文化意象，《現形記》以超現實、迂回的手法，抵達“自省式的懷舊”（維特蘭娜．博伊姆，2007）。它示意著個人如何贖回自我的表述與想像。從這種意義來看，《現形記》除可視為一則當代的澳門奇幻錄，亦不妨作為一服奇藥，讓被各種時代的咒語迷倒的人們解咒自救。

In 2018, Macao cultural critic Chin Pang LEI published Invisible Macau: The Ignored City and Culture. The book argues that for a long time, Macao has been leading an invisible existence. Were it not for the enviable financial performance of the gaming and tourism industries – which has in turn brought about numerous social issues denounced by the public – the identity of Macao would hardly be discussed, let alone problematised. ‘Not only are those from the outside unable to see well Macao, the locals are also unable to recognise themselves’.

The visibility/invisibility of Macao has thus become a source of anxiety in the cultural identity and artistic creation of the people in Macao. How to make an invisible Macao visible without creating further invisibilities? When a city with a population of six hundred thousand receives approximately 30 million tourists every year, its urban space is inevitably encroached and its urban planning designed to cater to visitors. Who is actually shaping this city in flux? Will the locals accidentally find themselves living outside of Macao?

The title of the 58th Venice Biennale ‘May You Live in Interesting Times’ implies that we are living in a time of planetary uncertainty, crisis, and anxiety. This expression is purported to be an ancient Chinese curse, though its origin has never been confirmed. Curator Ralph Rugoff invokes this ironic phrase to allude to the enormous power wielded by false claims in the current media and political climate. Be it an ancient curse, the rhetoric of politicians, or a city that was once called ‘Cidade do Nome de Deus’ (City in the Name of God) and now branded as the ‘World Class Gambling Capital’, it is those who have the say that govern people’s imagination. As a strategy to respond to rather than reject this social and political reality, we propose an alternative imagination for our city.

This exhibition, entitled ‘Apparition’, is a solo presentation of artist Heidi Lau’s ceramic works. Claiming to depict Macao in a state of manifestation, the exhibition contextualises many over-simplified and easily digestible impressions of Macao to reveal the complexities of its cultural identity. In these works, the creation myths of the goddess Nüwo bear testimony to long-standing local beliefs and the history of folk life. An ancestral home, filled with statues of Buddha and deities that appear frozen in time, evokes Macao people’s personal and collective memories that have been neglected and forgotten. The stunning extravagance of casinos would overthrow the tyranny of modernist aesthetics over taste, calling for postmodernist deconstruction, desire, and fantasy. The former Recreation Garden (today called Lou Lim Ieoc Garden) with its nine-turning zigzag bridge signifies the tangled relations between Macao and the gaming industry.

Heidi Lau grew up in Macao and currently lives in New York City. A Macao artist outside of Macao, Lau’s art has never departed from her home city. She conveys her political views and reimagination for the city and its identity through the spiritual reconstruction of a lost home, reflection on the city’s ruins, and longing for stories of the ineffable and supernatural. Her oblique expression rejects the cliché of the East-meets-West narrative without downright repudiating other approaches.

Borrowing from traditional folk wisdom and marginalised cultural imagery, the exhibition arrives in a state of reflective nostalgia – a term Svetlana Boym coined in 2007 – in a surreal, circuitous manner. It shows the way for one to reclaim his/her personal imagination and expression. In this sense, ‘Apparition’ is not only a contemporary tale of the otherworldly dedicated to Macao, but also a kind of antidote we provide for the contemporaries who fall for untraceable curses of our time.

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攝影師 Photographer：Rachel Frank