So, my mother's a pediatrician, and when I was young, she'd tell the craziest stories that combined science with her overactive imagination. One of the stories she told was that if you eat a lot of salt, all of the blood rushes up your legs, through your body, and shoots out the top of your head, killing you instantly.
我妈妈是儿科医生, 我小时候,她会说非常疯狂的故事, 结合了科学和她过度活跃的想像力。 其中一个故事是如果你吃很多盐, 所有的血液会从你的脚向上冲, 通过你的身体, 从你的头顶喷出, 让你立即死亡。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
She called it "high blood pressure."
她称之为「高血压」。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
This was my first experience with science fiction, and I loved it. So when I started to write my own science fiction and fantasy, I was surprised that it was considered un-African. So naturally, I asked, what is African? And this is what I know so far: Africa is important. Africa is the future. It is, though. And Africa is a serious place where only serious things happen.
这是我对科幻小说的初体验, 我很喜欢。 所以当我开始自己写科幻及奇幻小说时, 令我意外的是它们被 认为是「不非洲的」。 很自然的,我会问, 什么才算非洲的? 目前我所知道的如下: 非洲是重要的。 非洲是未来。 不过,它的确是。 非洲是个严肃的地方,而且 只有严肃的事都会在那里发生。
So when I present my work somewhere, someone will always ask, "What's so important about it? How does it deal with real African issues like war, poverty, devastation or AIDS?" And it doesn't. My work is about Nairobi pop bands that want to go to space or about seven-foot-tall robots that fall in love. It's nothing incredibly important. It's just fun, fierce and frivolous, as frivolous as bubble gum -- "AfroBubbleGum."
所以当我在某些地方展示 我的作品,总会有人问: “它为什么重要? 它如何处理现实的非洲问题, 如战争、贫穷、毁坏、或艾滋病? 而我的作品不涉及这些。 我的作品内容是关于 奈洛比流行乐团想要上太空, 或是关于七英尺高的机器人 陷入爱河。 它不是什么特别重要的东西。 它就是好玩、激烈、轻浮的, 像泡泡糖一样的轻浮… 「非洲泡泡糖」。
So I'm not saying that agenda art isn't important; I'm the chairperson of a charity that deals with films and theaters that write about HIV and radicalization and female genital mutilation. It's vital and important art, but it cannot be the only art that comes out of the continent. We have to tell more stories that are vibrant. The danger of the single story is still being realized. And maybe it's because of the funding. A lot of art is still dependent on developmental aid. So art becomes a tool for agenda. Or maybe it's because we've only seen one image of ourselves for so long that that's all we know how to create. Whatever the reason, we need a new way, and AfroBubbleGum is one approach. It's the advocacy of art for art's sake. It's the advocacy of art that is not policy-driven or agenda-driven or based on education, just for the sake of imagination: AfroBubbleGum art.
我并不是说关于重大问题的艺术不重要; 我是一个慈善机构的主席, 负责关于艾滋病毒和激进化的电影和剧院 以及女性外生殖器割礼。 这是很必要且重要的艺术, 但它不能是唯一从这个大洲出来的艺术。 我们得要说更多的故事, 充满生气的故事。 单一化的危险逐渐被意识到, 也许是资金原因, 许多艺术还依赖发展援助。 所以艺术成为议程工具。 也可能是因为我们长久以来 都只看见我们自己的一个形象, 以致于我们只会创造这样的形象。 不论是什么理由, 我们都需要新方法。 而非洲泡泡糖是一种方式。 它是为了艺术而做的艺术拥护。 它是不由政治驱使的艺术拥护, 不由议程驱使, 也不以教育为基础, 单纯就是为了想像而做: 非洲泡泡糖艺术。
And we can't all be AfroBubbleGumists. We have to judge our work for its potential poverty porn pitfalls. We have to have tests that are similar to the Bechdel test, and ask questions like: Are two or more Africans in this piece of fiction healthy? Are those same Africans financially stable and not in need of saving? Are they having fun and enjoying life? And if we can answer yes to two or more of these questions, then surely we're AfroBubbleGumists.
我们不能全都当非洲泡泡糖艺术家。 我们得要判断我们的作品 会陷入贫困色情的可能性。 我们得要有类似 贝克德尔测验的测验, 问类似这样的问题: 这部小说中,有两个以上的 非洲人是健康的吗? 这些健康的非洲人,在财务上 也很稳定且不需要救助吗? 他们过得开心、能享受人生吗? 如果这类问题有两个以上 的答案都是肯定的, 我们就是非洲泡泡糖艺术家
(Laughter)
(笑声)
(Applause)
(掌声)
And fun is political, because imagine if we have images of Africans who were vibrant and loving and thriving and living a beautiful, vibrant life. What would we think of ourselves then? Would we think that maybe we're worthy of more happiness? Would we think of our shared humanity through our shared joy? I think of these things when I create. I think of the people and the places that give me immeasurable joy, and I work to represent them. And that's why I write stories about futuristic girls that risk everything to save plants or to race camels or even just to dance, to honor fun, because my world is mostly happy.
乐趣是政治的, 因为,想像一下,如果我们的 非洲人形象是充满生气、 充满爱心、茁壮成长, 过着美好、充满活力的生活。 那么我们会如何看待我们自己? 也许我们会觉得我们值得更多快乐? 我们会透过我们共同的喜悦 来思考我们共同的人性吗? 当我创作时,我会想这些事。 我会想着给我无限喜悦 的人们以及地方, 我会努力来代表他们。 那就是为什么我写的故事是关于 未来女孩愿赌上一切去拯救植物, 或是去和骆驼赛跑, 或甚至只是跳舞。 向乐趣致敬, 因为我的世界大部份是快乐的。
And I know happiness is a privilege in this current splintered world where remaining hopeful requires diligence. But maybe, if you join me in creating, curating and commissioning more AfroBubbleGum art, there might be hope for a different view of the world, a happy Africa view where children are strangely traumatized by their mother's dark sense of humor,
我知道在目前这个分裂的世界里,快乐是项特权, 在这个世界, 需要勤勉才能保持希望。 但也许,如果你们能加入我, 创作、策划、实现 更多非洲泡泡糖艺术, 也许会有希望达成 一个不同的世界观, 一个快乐的非洲观, 那里孩童因为母亲的黑色幽默 而受到奇特的心理创伤,
(Laughter)
(笑声)
but also they're claiming fun, fierce and frivolous art in the name of all things unseriously African. Because we're AfroBubbleGumists and there's so many more of us than you can imagine.
但同时,他们也索求好玩、激烈、轻浮的艺术, 以所有不严肃的非洲事物之名。 因为我们是非洲泡泡糖艺术家, 我们的人数超过你们的想像。
Thank you so much.
非常感谢。
(Applause)
(掌声)