聽大英博物館100件文物講述200萬年歷史

文本刊記者 陳思靜 Chen Sijing 譯曹宇光Cao Yuguang

聽大英博物館100件文物講述200萬年歷史

Narration of Two Million Years’ History by 100 Objects from British Museum

文本刊記者 陳思靜 Chen Sijing 譯曹宇光Cao Yuguang

王后豎琴 Queen’s Harp

從舊時器時代奧杜威峽谷出土的石質(zhì)砍砸器，到21世紀(jì)中國生產(chǎn)的太陽能燈具等當(dāng)代人工制品，3月2日至5月31日，在中國國家博物館舉辦的“大英博物館100件文物中的世界史”展覽（以下簡稱“大英展”）向觀眾講述了200萬年人類文明的歷程。

展覽從大英博物館800多萬件藏品中精選出100件（組）展品，縱橫200萬年，橫跨五大洲，從“開端”“最初的城市”“權(quán)力與哲學(xué)”“儀式與信仰”“貿(mào)易與侵略”“變革與適應(yīng)”“邂逅與連結(jié)”“我們創(chuàng)造的世界”八個方面，向觀眾生動展現(xiàn)了世界文明的發(fā)展歷程，“以嶄新的立意使觀眾領(lǐng)略文物所揭示的不同文明間的密切聯(lián)系，體會不同文明之間的對話和相互尊重的重要，感知不同文明之間的融合與影響”，中國國家博物館副館長黃振春說。

如何從大英博物館百科全書式的藏品中精選出100件文物，大英博物館館長哈特維希?費舍爾解釋說：“盡管展品中不乏表現(xiàn)人類技術(shù)及審美潛質(zhì)的精美作品，但更加突出那些貌不驚人卻內(nèi)涵豐富的物品。一件微小的石質(zhì)印章使得一個消失的文明重見天日，非洲海岸上被隨意丟棄的陶瓷大片可以展現(xiàn)早期商人橫穿印度洋的驚人航程。所有的文物聚集在一起，共同講述了一部涵蓋各大洲、縱橫百萬年的全球故事?！?/p>

與觀眾熟知的世界史敘事模式不同，展覽并非旨在展現(xiàn)不同文明之間的差異，或者文明自身的獨特性，而是通過兩條線索突出其共性以及文明之間相互交融、彼此影響的事實。展覽序言部分僅有的一件展品——古埃及女貴族佘盆梅海特的木棺——正向觀眾昭示了這種融合和影響。這個制作于公元前600年的木棺初看起來和人們常見的古埃及木棺并無二致，但是經(jīng)過分析研究，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)，它的全部材料都來自埃及以外的地區(qū)：木料來自于黎巴嫩，黃金來自努比亞，青金石來自阿富汗，瀝青來自兩河流域?！斑@個普通的木棺試圖向觀眾揭示，在早期文明時代，世界范圍內(nèi)的交流合作已經(jīng)成為普遍現(xiàn)象?！闭褂[英方策展人貝琳達(dá)?克里勒解釋說，其一，資源、技術(shù)、思想、文化的傳播與共享，造就人類文明本身，自古以來這種交流與融合就從未中斷，并不斷塑造著文明的軌跡；其二，盡管不同文明擁有風(fēng)格各異的面貌，但其共同關(guān)心、嘗試解決的問題卻是一致的，因此文明的差異并不是產(chǎn)生分歧的理由，而是可供互相借鑒的契機。

良渚文化玉琮、西周康侯簋、商周時期的镈、東漢青瓷六博俑、唐代劉庭訓(xùn)墓的三彩文官俑、元代的青花瓷盤和龍首雙耳瓶、2010年深圳出產(chǎn)的太陽能燈具與充電器等八件中國藏品在此次展出。同時，作為全球巡展，展覽每到一地都會邀請當(dāng)?shù)夭┪镳^精選一件自己館藏的文物作為第101組展品，并與大英博物館的100件藏品共同參展，中國國家博物館的一組藏品“宣布中國重返世貿(mào)組織的木槌與簽字筆”作為第101組展品參展?！笆蕾Q(mào)組織是一個致力于經(jīng)濟全球化的國際組織，中國作為世貿(mào)組織前身的創(chuàng)始國，歷經(jīng)15年的艱苦談判，終于在2001年重返世界貿(mào)易組織，這對中國的改革開放來說，對于世界經(jīng)濟一體化來說都有重大意義。”展覽中方策展人閆志解釋。

霍克森胡椒瓶Hoxne Tiny Pepper Pot

阿拉伯銘文青銅手Wahab Ta’lab’s Bronze Hand

Ranging from the Stone Chopping Tool of Paleolithic Age found in Olduvai George to the contemporary artificial manufactures such as solar lamps made in China in the 21stcentury, the exhibition titled “A History of the World in 100 Objects” was held at National Museum of China(NMC) from March 2 till May 31 in narration of the two million years’ progress of human civilization.

This exhibition consisted of 100 selected items (sets) of exhibition out of over eight million pieces in the British Museum’s collection across the two million years in time and five continents in space. In eight parts, namely “Beginnings”, “The First Cities”, “Power and Philosophy”, “Ritual and Belief”, “Trading and Invading”, “Innovation and Adaptation”, “Encounters and Connections” and “The World of Our Making”, this exhibition provided a vivid showcase of the development course of the world civilizations.“With novel concept in curatorship, this exhibition will enable audiences to realize the close relationship between various civilizations as seen in objects, to sense the importance of dialogue and mutual respect between civilizations, and feel the integration and mutual influence between them as well.” Huang Zhenchun, vice president of NMC said.

As to the choice criterion of 100 objects in such an encyclopedia collection of the British Museum,Hartwig Fischer, president of the British Museum, explained, “Though some exquisite exhibits that reflect human technology and aesthetic potential do exist, we prefer to highlight those objects of simple countenance and abundant contents, as a tiny stone seal can bring an extinct civilization back to life and those porcelain fragments abandoned randomly along the African coast can demonstrate the amazing journey by early merchants across the Indian Ocean. All those objects are pieced together to jointly narrate a global story of all the continents in millions of years’ time”.

Different from the familiar narration mode of the world history, this exhibition, rather than showcasing the differences between civilizations or the unique features of a certain civilization, highlighted the common features through two threads of clues as well as the integration and mutual influence between civilizations. The only exhibit in the preface of this exhibition, inner coffin of Shepenmehyt, a woman aristocrat of Ancient Egypt, just indicated such integration and influence. Discoveries indicate that all its materials came from regions outside Egypt: the wood from Lebanon, the gold from Kush, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and bitumen from Mesopotamia. “This ordinary wooden coffin tries to tell to the audiences that in the Early Civilization age the worldwide exchange and cooperation was already common.” Belinda Crerar, the British curator explained. First of all, the communications and sharing of sources, technology, thinking and cultures have created the human civilization, and this unceasing exchange and integration have constantly built up the track of civilizations. Secondly, different civilizations, despite their varied outlooks, share the identical concern for solving similar problems.Therefore the differences between civilizations provide an opportunity for reciprocal reference rather than reasons for conflict.

In this exhibition, eight Chinese objects such as jade Cong in Liangzhu Culture, bronze ritual vessel Gui in Western Zhou Dynasty, bronze bell between 600-400 B.C., lead-glazed earthenware Model of Liubo Players, Tang tomb figure in Tang Dynasty, blue-and-white porcelain plate and amphora in Yuan Dynasty, and solar lighting and charger made in Shenzhen in 2010 were on display. In the meanwhile, as a general practice of this global tour, a selected piece of objects from the local museum can be exhibited as No.101, together with those 100 objects from the British Museum. From NMC, the set of “Wooden Hammer and Pen used at China’s Re-accession into WTO” became the No.101. “WTO is an international organization committed to economic globalization. As the founding country of GATT, the former WTO,China eventually returned to WTO in 2011 after 15 years of painstaking negotiations , which bears a crucial significance for China’s reform and opening up as well as the global economic integration.” Yan Zhi,Chinese curator of this exhibition explained.

奧杜威砍砸器 Olduvai Stone Chopping Tool