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.
我媽媽是小兒科醫生, 我小時候,她會說非常瘋狂的故事, 結合了科學和她過度活躍的想像力。 其中一個故事是如果你吃很多鹽, 所有的血液會從你的腳向上衝, 通過你的身體, 從你的頭頂噴出, 讓你立即死亡。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
She called it "high blood pressure."
她稱之為「高血壓」。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
這是我對科幻小說的初體驗, 我很喜歡。 所以當我開始寫我自己的 科幻及奇幻小說時, 我很意外它們被認為是「不非洲的」。 很自然的,我會問, 什麼才算非洲的? 目前我所知道的如下: 非洲是重要的。 非洲是未來。 儘管,它的確是。 且非洲是個嚴肅的地方, 所有嚴肅的事都會在那裡發生。
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."
所以當我在某處展示作品,總有人問: 「它有什麼重要性? 它如何處理真正的非洲議題, 如戰爭、貧窮、毀壞、或愛滋病?」 我的作品不處理這些。 我的作品內容是關於 奈洛比流行樂團想要上太空, 或是關於七呎高的機器人 陷入愛河。 它不是什麼特別重要的東西。 它就是好玩、激烈、輕浮的, 和泡泡糖一樣輕浮── 「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.
我並不是說應辦事項的藝術不重要; 我是一間慈善機構的主席, 這機構處理影片和劇院 寫作有關愛滋病、激進化、 和女性割禮等議題的劇本。 那是必要且重要的藝術, 但非洲大陸不能只產出這種藝術。 我們得要說更多的故事, 充滿生氣的故事。 單一故事的危險性,還正在發生中。 也許資金是原因。 許多藝術還仰賴發展的金援。 所以藝術成了應辦事項的工具。 也可能是因為長久以來 我們只看見自己的形象, 以致於我們只會創造這樣的形象。 不論是什麼理由, 我們都需要新方法。 而非洲泡泡糖是一種方式。 它是為藝術而做的藝術擁護。 它不是被政治驅使的藝術擁護, 不由應辦事項所驅使, 也不以教育為基礎, 單純就是為了想像而做: 非洲泡泡糖藝術。
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.
我們不能全都當非洲泡泡糖藝術家。 我們得要判斷我們的作品, 避免陷入貧困色情的陷阱。 我們得要有類似 「貝克德爾測驗」的測驗, 問類似這樣的問題: 這部小說中,有兩個以上的 健全非洲人嗎? 這些健全的非洲人, 財務穩定且不需被救助嗎? 他們過得開心、能享受人生嗎? 如果有兩個以上的答案是肯定的, 當然,我們就是非洲泡泡糖藝術家
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
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.
樂趣是政治的, 因為,想像一下,如果我們的 非洲人形象是充滿活力的、 慈愛的、茁壯成長的、 過著美好、充滿活力的生活。 那麼我們會如何看待我們自己? 也許會覺得我們值得更快樂? 我們會透過共同的喜悅 來思考我們共同的人性嗎? 當我創作時,我會想這些事。 我會想著給我無限喜悅的人與地, 我會努力來代表他們。 那就是為什麼我寫的故事是關於 未來的女孩願賭上一切去拯救植物, 或是去賽駱駝, 或甚至只是跳舞。 向樂趣致敬, 因為我的世界大部份是快樂的。
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,
我知道在目前這個分裂的 世界裡,快樂是項特權, 得要勤勉才能保有希望。 但也許,如果你們能加入我, 創作、策展、委託 更多的非洲泡泡糖藝術, 也許有希望達成不同的世界觀, 一個快樂的非洲觀, 那裡的孩童因為母親的黑色幽默 而受到奇特的心理創傷,
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
但同時他們也主張 好玩、激烈、輕浮的藝術, 以所有不嚴肅的非洲事物為名。 因為我們是非洲泡泡糖藝術家, 我們的人數眾多,超出你們的想像。
Thank you so much.
非常謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)