Name : Bill Aitchison

姓名：比尔▪艾奇森

Country of Origin : United Kingdom

国籍：英国

Occupation : Director/Actor/Teacher in Theatre

职业：导演 / 演员 / 戏剧教师

Years in China : 7 Years

在华居住时间：7年

How did your journey in China begin?

你的中国之旅是怎样开始的?

It all started when I was a student doing my masters in London. By accident, I got a part time job in the School of the Oriental and African studies so that sparked my curiosity in China. I thought that I should go and visit so as a student I decided to make a trip here. A bit later, when I was getting art residencies, an offer was made to me to come to Beijing to produce some art projects. I accepted this art residency position in 2009 in Beijing and my China journey officially began. Back then, Beijing was not the city that it is now. A couple years later, in 2011 to be exact, I was offered another residency in Xiamen and I can also say that this city was rather different back then.

故事要从我在伦敦读硕士的时候讲起。一个偶然的机会，我在东方和非洲研究学院得到了一份兼职工作，这激起了我对中国的好奇心。我想我应该去看看，所以当时还是学生的我决定到中国旅行。我开始申请艺术家驻地项目，之后，便有人邀请我到北京开展一些艺术项目。2009 年我获得了北京的艺术家驻地权，我的中国之旅正式开始。那时候，北京还不是现在这副模样。几年后，确切地说，在2011年，我获得了在厦门的艺术家驻地权。我也可以说，和当时相比，如今的厦门是截然不同的。

What fascinated you the most about living here?

生活在中国，最吸引你的是什么？

I like the sense that things happen quickly. There is always a lot of opportunities so you don’t have to be what you thought you were. As I stated earlier, when I first arrived in Beijing and Xiamen, things were completely different back then. For example, I would describe Xiamen in 2011 as greener and rougher around the edges with not that many tourists crowding the streets. Back then it felt like a smaller city as there was not nearly as much development. Also, I would say that being in China, if you are open to opportunities, you can find yourself doing new things, meeting new people and more!

未来充满不确定性，我很喜欢那种感觉，在你面前总是有很多机会，你不必拘泥于现状。我前面所说，我第一次到达北京和厦门的时候，情况完全不同。比如，我觉得2011年的厦门正处于新兴的、粗放的发展阶段，街道上也没有挤满游客。那时的厦门感觉是一个小城市，没有过多地发展。另外，我想说的是，在中国，如果你善于把握机会，你可以发现自己在不断尝试新事物，认识新伙伴！

What do you like the most about Xiamen/ China?

你最喜欢厦门/中国的什么？

Overall, China has an extremely dynamic atmosphere with the dynamism being an interesting thing. I more and more get the feeling that the trends that are the future on the global level appear first in China. This is a place where things are up for grabs in the early stages and as an artist that’s important for me. The art scene is growing and diverse albeit not as organized as in other places in the world. In Europe, where I’m more familiar, things are more organized and predictable as there’s more support for the arts industry. But if I’m being completely honest, the lack of organization in the art scene here makes the industry more unpredictable and creative. Right now, we’re currently in a building phase here as officials and developers are building museums and spaces at an incredible speed, the next thing to accomplish will be a greater sensitivity to the art programmes that fill the spaces.

总的来说，中国充满活力，特别有趣。我越来越觉得，按照这一趋势发展，世界的未来将属于中国。在中国，要善于把握新兴事物，这对作为艺术工作者的我来说很重要。中国的艺术产业不像世界上其他地方那样发展地有条不紊。我更熟悉欧洲的艺术产业，更有组织性，发展方向也更有预见性，因为其得到的支持更多。但坦白说，中国的艺术产业缺乏组织性，反而使得这个行业发展更加自由，更具创造性。现在，当地政府和开发商正在以难以置信的速度建设博物馆，接下来要做的就是用艺术感来设计空间。

What is your unique China story?

关于你独特的中国故事是什么呢?

The art group I founded happened by accident and as such we call it Last Minute Live Art. It came about as a result of a last-minute cancelled art festival in Hangzhou. I had some students who were travelling to join us there. I felt bad so I asked some friends who run a museum in Nanjing to set up a festival of our own in 3 weeks’ time. And they said YES! That was how the group was born and now we have done quite a few festivals and many events… from nothing to the main promoter of experimental performance in Nanjing and working on a national level too.

一次偶然的机会，我创立了一个艺术团体 “Last Minute Live Art”。我的学生本来想参加杭州的一个艺术节，无奈在最后一刻被取消了。我感到很难过，所以我问了在南京经营博物馆的朋友，请求他们在三周内组织一个我们自己的艺术节，他们欣然答应了。就这样，这个艺术团体诞生了，现在我们已经举办了不少艺术节和其他活动……我们白手起家，一路发展，成为南京实验表演的主要推动者，工作范围拓展到全国。

Would you like to mention any of your current projects?

可以谈谈你最近在忙什么吗？

I am doing 2 shows at the moment that are complete opposites. The first is an experimental movement piece which could be described as having a very dark energy, which is pretty unusual for China. The team is made up of 6 strong performers and I begin directing it in Beijing this coming October. The second one is a very arty children’s show usually performed by an Italian theatre group who cannot come to China at the moment so I’ve been cast in it along with two other local performers.

我正在做两个表演，风格完全相反。第一个是实验性的动作作品，可以说是暗黑系的，这在中国并不常见。表演团队由6位优秀的演员组成，我将于今年10月在北京开始执导。第二个作品是极具艺术性的儿童剧，由一个意大利剧团演出，但他们目前不能来中国，所以由我和另外两个当地演员一起出演。

Fun fact about Bill’s hometown 

介绍一下 Bill 的家乡

Portsmouth is an island like Xiamen, so the mentalities are surprisingly similar here and back home.

我的家乡朴茨茅斯和厦门一样，是个岛屿，所以两地人民的心态出奇的一致。

作者：比尔▪艾奇森 翻译：潘泽彬

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