每日英語跟讀 Ep.829: Are African Artifacts Safer in Europe? 非洲文物 在歐洲更安全？

非洲文物在歐洲更安全？

Is Africa’s cultural heritage better off in Europe or in Africa?

非洲的文化遺產存放在歐洲或非洲，何者比較好呢？

That is the question at the heart of a yearslong debate that has gripped museums in Europe, where many officials say they support the idea of repatriating artifacts, but worry that African museums cannot compare to state-of-the-art facilities in Britain, France or Germany.

這正是歐洲博物館界討論多年的問題的核心，許多歐洲博物館的管理階層表示，他們贊成應把文物送回非洲的想法，卻又擔心非洲各地博物館不具備英、法或德國那些先進博物館的的條件。

That debate has been given new life in recent months after an investigation by the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper found that many of the artifacts that will be on display in the Humboldt Forum, a huge new museum under construction in a rebuilt Berlin palace, had for years been stored in less-than-ideal conditions. The report featured searing depictions of flooded storage rooms and depots choked with toxic dust.

最近幾個月，這場討論再度熱絡起來，因為南德意志報調查後發現，預定在「洪堡論壇」展出的文物之中，許多已存放在不盡理想的環境下多年。洪堡論壇是興建中規模宏大的新博物館，將位在柏林一座重建的宮殿內。這篇報導對那些文物的存放室淹水，庫房覆滿有毒灰塵，作了特別尖刻地描述。

The Humboldt Forum will bring together the collections of several existing museums in the city under one roof, but reports in German news media have focused on the storage facilities of the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, which will be the Forum’s largest single contributor.

洪堡論壇將把柏林幾座現有博物館的藏品集中在一起，不過德國新聞媒體的報導著重在柏林民族學博物館的庫房。這座博物館將是洪堡論壇展品的最大提供者。

Officials at the museum, which closed to the public in 2017 to prepare for the move to its new home, have responded with what observers call an unusual degree of openness.

民族學博物館2017年起停止對外開放，好準備搬新家。館方回應外界質疑的態度十分開放透明，開放程度之高觀察家以異乎尋常形容。

They have denied some of the reports, in particular the claim of flooded storerooms, but said their depots were beset with problems common to museums across Germany. Those included outdated facilities, a lack of staff members, and a sense of disarray that dates to moments of crisis in German history.

館方否認報導中的某些部分，尤其是庫房淹水，不過他們說，倉庫發生的問題在德國各地博物館都很常見，包括設施陳舊、人手不足和擺放方式雜亂，這些問題從德國歷史上那些動盪時期以來就一直存在。

Despite all that, they steadfastly rejected that those conditions might call into question their stewardship of the artifacts, many of which were collected during the era of European imperialism.

雖然倉庫有這些問題，但館方堅決否認這些問題意味著管理不善。倉庫內許多文物是在歐洲帝國主義時期收集而來。

Sindika Dokolo, a Congolese art collector who runs a foundation that has organized the return of artifacts to Congo and Angola, said it was true that “a whole generation” of museum professionals, like curators and conservationists, needed to be trained “in most of the African countries.” But while that new generation was being trained, he said, it is European museums’ responsibility to make sure African audiences had access to the artifacts in their possession.

剛果藝品收藏家多克洛管理一個基金會，在這個基金會安排下已有一些文物送回剛果和安哥拉。多克洛說，「多數非洲國家」的確有必要訓練「一整個世代的」博物館專業人員，如策展人和文物修復師。不過他說，在非洲訓練這個新世代的同時，歐洲博物館有責任確保非洲的文物愛好者能看到歐洲握有的非洲文物。

It is up to them to create the conditions that would let African artifacts "play their role where they need to be right now, in Africa," he added.

多克洛說，歐洲博物館有責任創造條件，讓非洲文物「在非洲當下需要的地方發揮作用」。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/345221/web/