大芬油画村 Dafen Oil Painting Village

深圳没什么可看的,连独特的购物去处也少见,却有一个特别的地方, 大芬油画村。 这是龙岗区一个0.4平方公里左右的社区，据说有5000多个艺术家和画匠栖居于此，开有700来家画廊，主要出售原创油画和复制名画。接近村口时已看到楼上的标语：“艺术与市场在这里对接，才华与财富在这里对换。”

进到社区里，看了摆在店里的作品，大失所望。真是只见市场不见艺术，只见金钱不见才华。满街的店铺满眼的画，却不觉的它们与文化艺术有任何关系，到是与家居装修建材城一类靠得更近。仔细一点，可以看得出大部分作品还是出自训练了多年的手。想想这些曾经怀着热情、憧憬拿起画笔的人，历尽寒窗之苦，练就了一种丰富美好的表达方式，却没有表达的自由，久而久之心里连表达的内容与愿望也消失了。若是他们知道有一天会来到陌生城市的一个小阁楼里，毫无创造性的复制他人作品，或为了迎合市场的低俗品位堆砌些刺眼的青山绿水，他们最初还会选择拿起画笔么？可悲的是，我几乎可以肯定，来到大芬村，丢弃艺术，背叛才华，并不会带来与这种牺牲对等的财富，如果真的存在这样的对等。

我们站在大芬的一间被耀眼日光灯照得象快餐店一样雪亮的所谓画廊前，看到多少梦想在这里破碎。

There is a special place in Shenzhen called Dafen Oil Painting Village. It is a community of 0.4 square kilometres in Longgang District, boasting more than 5,000 artists and close to 700 galleries. This is a base of mass oil painting production in China, exhibiting original work as well as reproduction of master pieces. Approaching the entrance of the community, one can spot a slogan high up on a building: “Here art merges with market; talent brings wealth.”

A stroll through lanes lined with shops of painting only brought great disappointment. Prevalent here was the vulgar of the market that has engulfed artistic talents. Works of paintings piled up like building boards in construction material warehouses, resembling nothing cultural or artistic, although observed more closely, some of these works did tell of the skilful and trained hands that created them. Obviously, many artists who dwell and work in Dafen have gone through rigorous training from very young and acquired the skills that would open rich and beautiful ways of expression. Sadly, the freedom of expression does not naturally come with it, and with the lapse of time, passion of expression also disappears. If they had known that one day they would belocked up in a little corner of a strange city, copying other people's work or producing tasteless chunks of loud colours to meet the market demand, would they have picked up a painting brush in the first place? What's more tragic, I believe strongly, the heavy sacrifice of giving up their artistic yearnings and betraying their own talents will not bring the justifying wealth, if there is such a thing of "justifying wealth" at all.

Standing outside a so-called art gallery lit up like a fast-food restaurant, we had to lament a complete surrender of the purity of art to ruthless commercial pursuit. Dafen Village is, indeed, a village of broken dreams.

画、歌声和四川菜 Paintings, Singing & Sichuan Kitchen

又去了香港著名的私房菜”四川菜大平伙”,上次去还是在两年前了。那时很喜欢这里，布置不俗，菜好。丈夫招呼客人，太太掌勺。墙上的画和女主人饭后的献声，告诉人们他们的艺术背景，显出了与一般食府的不同。

这次去感觉变了。菜还是原来的菜，一样的好味道，不知为什么没了原来的红火劲儿；画还是原来的画，黑白旧照仍是太太年轻时的美丽容颜，却充满逝者如斯的伤感；最后女主人走出厨房由丈夫一一介绍给食客，两个人脸上都是充满疲惫的笑容，友善却无奈而强求。而令人最不人闻不忍顾的还是太太最后的歌。唱的是“茉莉花”，本是轻松的江南小调，她唱的声音和表情真如杜鹃啼血，起调之高太难为自己了。我断定在座的没有一个听得舒服，却也没有一个忍心跟她说“这最后一道免了吧”。满屋的过去，都是死的记忆，恐怕只有这几分钟是最后一个坚守的角落，艺术的过去今天就只活在这几分钟。

艺术与生存总是一个令人徒生感慨的话题。宁愿不食人间烟火的艺术家们为了活也要吃饭。开了餐馆的，还要给别人做饭吃。起初恐怕还有赚钱支持自己艺术追求的愿望，但日复一日年复一年的在菜场厨房度过，艺术的热情和天赋在日出日落间不知不觉的消失了。过去的梦再也无法带入未来，却又不愿彻底忘却，就有了这让人听着伤心的歌。为了她这个最后的角落，我还是会去“大平伙”，并且会坐到最后，为她鼓掌。