Part B: Information Matching (2024)
Directions: Read the following comments on a report about American museums returning artifacts to their countries of origin and a list of statements summarizing the comments. Choose the best statement from the list A-G for each numbered name (41-45). There are two extra choices which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)
41. Hannah
Simply, there are people in Nigeria who cannot travel to the Smithsonian Institution to see that part of their history and culture represented by the Benin Bronzes. These should be available to them as part of their cultural heritage and history and as a source of national pride. There is no good reason that these artifacts should be beyond the ordinary reach of the educational objectives or inspiration of the generations to which they were left. They serve no purpose in a museum in the United States or elsewhere except as curious objects. They cannot be compared to works of art produced for sale which can be passed from hand to hand and place to place by purchase.
42. Buck
We know very exact reproductions of artwork can be and are regularly produced. Perhaps museums and governments might explore some role for the use of nearly exact reproductions as a means of resolving issues relating to returning works of art and antiquities. The context of any exhibit is more important to me than whether the object being displayed is 2000 years old or 2 months old. In many cases the experts have a hard time agreeing on what is the real object and what is a forgery. Again, the story an exhibit is trying to tell is what matters. The monetary value of the objects on display is a distant second place in importance.
43. Sara
When visiting the Baltimore Museum of Art, I came across a magnificent 15th-century Chinese sculpture. It inspired me to learn more about the culture that it represented. Artifacts in museums have the power to inspire, and perhaps spark that need to learn and understand the nature of their creators. Having said that, I do feel that whatever artifacts find their way to public museums should, in fact, be sanctioned as having been obtained on loan, legally purchased, or obtained by treaty. Stealing artifacts from other peoples’ cultures is obscene; it robs not only the physical objects, but the dignity and spirit of their creators.
44. Victor
Ancient art that is displayed in foreign countries by all means should be returned to the original country. The foreign countries have no right to hold back returning the items. I would ask that the foreign nations and the original country discuss the terms of transfer. Yes, there is the risk that the original country will not have as good security as do the foreign countries. But look at what happened to Boston’s Gardner Museum theft in 1990, including the loss of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet, and other masterpieces. Nothing is absolutely safe, nowhere. And now Climate Change agitators are attacking publicly displayed works in European museums.
45. Julia
To those of you in the comments section who are having strong feelings about artifacts being removed from cities in the US and Britain and returned to their countries of origin, I would ask you to consider: why do you think Americans have more of a right to easily access the Benin Bronzes than the people of Nigeria? Why are people who live within a day’s drive of London entitled to go and see the Elgin Marbles whenever they want, but the people of Athens aren’t? What intrinsic factors make the West a suitable home for these artifacts but preclude them from being preserved and displayed by their countries of origin? If your conclusion is that the West is better able to preserve these artifacts, think about why you’re assuming that to be true.
Options
答案速查 (Answer Sheet)
答案解析 (Answers & Analysis)
41. Hannah 对应 [E]
【定位】Hannah 强调尼日利亚人无法前往美国看青铜器，这些文物应作为“民族自豪感的源泉（source of national pride）”提供给他们。她认为这些文物在美国博物馆中“毫无用处（serve no purpose）”，仅是“奇特物品（curious objects）”。这对应 [E]：文物的真正价值只能在其原籍国被认可。
42. Buck 对应 [C]
【定位】关键词：reproductions（复制品）。Buck 认为可以使用“几乎精确的复制品”来解决归还争议。他主张展览的“背景和故事（context / story）”比物体是否真实或古老更重要。这对应 [C]：原件归还后，游客仍能从复制品中学到同样多的知识。
43. Sara 对应 [F]
【定位】Sara 虽然认可文物的启发力量，但强调进入公共博物馆的文物必须是经“认可（sanctioned）”的，即通过借调、合法购买或条约获得。她抨击偷窃行为是“令人厌恶的（obscene）”。这对应 [F]：获取他国文物的途径必须得体且合法。
44. Victor 对应 [G]
【定位】关键词：security（安全）。针对“原籍国安全保障不佳”的顾虑，Victor 举了波士顿加德纳博物馆名画失窃的例子，证明“哪里都不是绝对安全的（Nothing is absolutely safe, nowhere）”。这对应 [G]：对安全性的担忧不能成为拒绝归还文物的借口。
45. Julia 对应 [B]
【定位】Julia 质疑“西方更有权接触文物”或“西方更能保存文物”的假设。她要求人们思考为什么要假设西方更合适（why you're assuming that to be true）。这对应 [B]：反对将文物归还原籍国的逻辑推理是有缺陷的（flawed line of reasoning）。
全文翻译
[41] 作为 2024 年美国艺术与文学学院的新成员，展览"过去的未来"汇聚了精选的四位艺术家的作品：玛丽亚·马格达莱娜·坎波斯-庞斯、卡拉·沃克、拉希德·约翰逊和亨利·泰勒。展览呈现了经过变异或改造的日常物品，以及植根于离散经验的人类形象强烈描绘。有些作品邀请我们参与某种文化象征的集体记忆。
[42] 坎波斯-庞斯通过自 20 世纪 80 年代以来创作的多媒体作品来探索身份的构建，以及她的古巴-中国血统、流亡经历和黑人女性身份如何塑造了她的艺术实践。她的装置作品《寻找平衡》（2015 年）包括一架带有旧行李箱和手工吹制玻璃泪珠的天平——暗示着移民的旅程、一个人留下的东西以及新国家强加的分量。
[43] 沃克最出名的是她使用剪影将历史叙事雕刻成关于种族、性别和暴力的挑衅性寓言。她 1994 年的装置作品《消逝：一则历史浪漫小说中的一幕》，使用真人大小的纸剪影在墙上创造了一场内战前的戏剧，充满了可怕的幽默和讽刺。
[44] 约翰逊的实践横跨雕塑、绘画、影像和装置艺术，并长期探索共享的文化参考。在展览中，他的《马尔科姆 X 黑板》（2019 年）再现了民权领袖在一次演讲前写在黑板上的代数公式，将学术知识与黑人智力主义的力量联系起来。
[45] 泰勒以描绘他认识的或敬仰的人的画作而闻名，这些画作通常使用丙烯颜料在大型画布上快速作画。展出的六幅肖像画在颜色、图案和物体的直接性上让人想起约翰·辛格·萨金特的肖像画，但将他的模特完全锚定在当代美国黑人生活中，为那些经常被忽略的面孔赋予不朽性和温柔。