本站原创说起异国他乡,我最熟悉的莫过于新加坡.从1995年开始,受新加坡国家艺术理事会等部门的邀请,我得以多次访问这个美丽的岛国,每次都会留下深刻的印象,都会产生新的认识和感觉.
2003年岁末,新加坡国家艺术理事会、新加坡政府旅游局、“联系新加坡”经济发展局邀请了32个国家和地区的219位摄影家（包括美国《国家地理》杂志摄影师史提夫麦凯瑞Steve McCurry等诸多世界著名摄影家在内）到新加坡参加“Click Art国际艺术摄影集会”.这是新加坡迄今为止举办的规模最大的摄影活动.我荣幸地成为其中的一员.
在短短三天的时间里,会议主办方还组织来自世界各地的摄影高手们参加了“全岛拍透透”创作比赛.比赛围绕“空间、幕后点滴、艺术空间和艺术城市”等五个主题进行.这也是“Click Art国际艺术摄影集会”的重头戏.摄影家们在新加坡全岛各个角落,用敏锐的镜头记录这个南洋岛国多彩的城市景象和丰富的生活面貌.我惊奇地发现,时隔五六年,新加坡依然那般美丽,但美丽中多了一份丰韵,多了一种自然融入生活的艺术氛围.
新加坡是一个小国,只有600多平方公里的国土,资源十分匮乏,但新加坡人民凭着自己的聪明才智,在短短的几十年中,创造了震惊世界的经济腾飞奇迹,成为世界上最发达和最富裕的国家之一.但富裕起来的新加坡人不仅仅满足于经济上的成就,而更重视精神文明的建设.政府投入巨大的精力和财力建设了大量的文化艺术场所,为本国艺术家提供了优裕的创作环境,并邀请世界各地的优秀艺术家来新加坡举办多种多样的文化艺术交流活动.新加坡人不断从中吸收着东西方文化的精髓,国民整体素质不断提高,国家充满了活力.
滨海艺术中心是我此次新加坡之行见到的一幢崭新建筑,正式开放整整一年.这幢建筑外观呈独特的双贝壳形,坐落在市区内的新加坡河入海口,与滨海湾毗邻.艺术中心拥有全新加坡最大的舞台和新加坡人引以自豪的音乐厅.新加坡朋友告诉我,世界上只有五个类似的音乐厅,包括瑞士的卢塞恩、美国的费城、达拉斯、英国的伯明翰,再就是新加坡.由于音乐厅的音响设备可随需要进行调节,所以它是各种音乐演出的理想场所.音乐厅放置着一架由4740个音管及61个音栓组成的科莱斯管风琴,是世界上最著名的一家管风琴制造商设计与制造完成的.
不仅国家艺术表演中心,新加坡政府所举办的各种文化艺术活动都要求能够适合不同观众的口味,包括各种类型的音乐、舞蹈、戏剧及视觉艺术,都把焦点集中在艺术的教育和增加大众能接触到艺术的机会上.新加坡的观众通过这些活动不仅能了解各种艺术,更重要的是把欣赏艺术视为他们生活的一部分.
不管你走在乌节路商业区或宏茂桥组屋区,不管是在小印度或是荷兰村,不管是在艺术家们的创作基地还是普通百姓的家中,你都会感到一种艺术的气息扑面而来.有一天晚饭后,我在外国摄影家住的莱佛士饭店外散步,发现刚刚逛完商店的一家人意犹未尽地拍照留念.身后的橱窗里展示着名牌服装的广告,广告画面中的三对男女青年代表了Design（艺术）、Style（流行与时尚）,前景则是这些穿着随意的百姓,与背景中的时尚男女形成了鲜明对比,给人以强烈视觉冲击.这幅信手拈来的作品后来获得了“艺术拓展”主题的金奖.我由衷地感谢艺术的新加坡给了我摄影创作的灵感.
This past December, the 2003 ClickArt / World Photojournalist Conference, jointly anized by the National Arts Council, Singapore Touri Board, Contact Singapore, and Singapore Economic Board, invited 219 photographers from 32 countries and regions to meet in Singapore. I was honored to be invited to attend.
Singapore is a all country with an area of roughly 600 square kilometers. Though very short on natural resources, the people of Singapore, counting on their own wisdom, he created a marvelous world economic miracle in only a few decades and he turned Singapore into one of the most developed and richest countries in the world. Despite their wealth, the people of Singapore are not satiied merely with economic achievements, for they also attach great importance to the construction of spiritual civilization.
The government has spent tremendous energy and considerable funds in the construction of many cultural and artistic resorts, which provide an excellent creative environment for artists, as well as hours of happy browsing and shopping for tourists. Besides, Singapore frequently invites outstanding artists from all over the world to visit and hold diversified cultural and artistic exchange events. In this way, Singapore has constantly absorbed the essentials of both eastern and western cultures, which has constantly enriched the life style of the people and made the country full of vitality.
The Esplanade Theaters on the Bay is a new building, which I saw for the first time during my visit to Singapore, since it has been open to the public for only one year. Located at the juncture where the Singapore River meets the sea, and neighboring upon Marina Bay, the external part of this building presents a unique dual-shell shape. The Esplanade Theaters on the Bay consists mainly of the Lyric Theater and Concert Hall. A friend of mine in Singapore told me that there were only five such concert halls in the entire world, the others being in Luzern, Switzerland, Birmingham, England, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Dallas, Texas, in the United States. Since the acoustics in the concert hall can be adjusted in accordance with different needs, it is an ideal venue for the performance of a variety of concerts. A remarkable feature of the concert hall is a Klais pipe an with 4,740 pipes and 61 stops, designed by the celebrated American sound scientist Russell Johnson.
Not only do The Esplanade Theatres on the Bay encourage different kinds of presentations, but various cultural and artistic events hosted by the Singapore government are also designed to cater to the tastes of visitors from many ethnic backgrounds. There is great emphasis on art education in Singapore, and this includes various kinds of vocal and instrumental music, dance, opera, and the visual arts, including painting, calligraphy, drawings, and photography, with the result that there are increasing opportunities for the people to he access to art, both as creators and as connoisseurs.
Through these events, visitors to Singapore can enjoy various arts and e to regard art appreciation as an important part of their life. While strolling along and exploring Orchard Road, Ang Mo Kio, Little India, or Holland Village, or through visiting the studios of the artists or even the homes of ordinary people, wherever you are, you can feel the sense of art in Singapore.
One evening after supper, when I took a leisurely walk outside the Raffles Hotel where I stayed, I found several members of a family taking pictures in front of a display window after shopping. Behind them in the window was an advertisement for a brand name dress, in which there are three young couples. In front of them, the living people in their casual suits constitute a fresh parison with the fashionable models in the picture, exerting a strong impact on my vision. Later, the picture I shot from this scene was awarded First Prize under the theme “Reaching Out.”