Versindaba
~ 'n Weblog vir die Afrikaanse digkuns ~

Dit is tog interessant hoe dikwels digters hul kreatiwiteit ook na ander kunsvorms laat vertak; hetsy skilderkuns, musiek, dans of dan veral ook fotografie. En ‘n nuwe toevoeging tot dié lys van multibegaafdes is dan inderdaad die sjinese digter Bei Dao (foto) oor wie ek vantevore ook geblog het.

So is daar onlangs deur Global Times berig dat ‘n foto-uitstalling van Bei Dao, wie se regte naam eintlik Zhao Zhenkai is, vir die duur van Oktobermaand in die Hong Kong Contemporary Art Museum te Beijing te sien is. Hierdie uitstalling, Nil Mirror, bestaan uit 14 foto’s wat Bei Dao die afgelope dekade geneem het.

Volgens die Global Times se beriggewer die volgende:

Bei Dao’s photography, like his poetry, possesses a unique sense of beauty. Some of his prints are accentuated by bold colors, while others encompass random objects. Yet all these works shares one trait in common: though they might appear blurred, they stand out as real, gripping snapshots of beauty through abstractism. Bei Dao himself admits, his mentor for photography is fellow poet and late American Allen Ginsberg, whose influences can be readily identified by visitors familiar with Beat Generation pioneer. “He suggested to never use the flash in photography because it threatens to compress the whole space into a flat surface that lacks any real atmosphere,” said Bei Dao.

Ek vind dit net so ironies dat dié uitstalling juis in Beijing gehuisves word, aangesien dit die stad is wat Bei Dao in 1976 inderhaas moes verlaat – sonder vrou en kinders – tydens die gewelddadige onderdrukking van protes by die Tianenmen-plein. Hy was vir vervolging deur die owerhede geoormerk in hoofsaak vanweë sy betrokkenheid by die digtersgroep Misty Poets en hul publikasie Jintian (Vandag) wat in 1980 finaal verban is.

Nog nooit kon Dao na sy geboorteland terugkeer nie en het sedert 1987 as gasdosent in Engeland, Duitsland, Noorweë, Swede, Denemark, Nederland, Frankryk en die VSA gewoon en gewerk.  Sy skryfwerk is intussen in nie minder nie as vyf-en-twintig tale vertaal, waaronder 5 publikasies in Engelse vertaling.

In 1989 was sy gedig, “Huida” (Die antwoord) tydens die Tianenmen-plein opstande van daardie jaar as ampetlike protesgedig voorgehou en orals op plakkate tydens die verset vertoon.

Vir jou gerief plaas ek dié gedig hieronder soos dit by Shiku.org gevind kan word. (Ook is daar nog vele ander gedigte deur Bei Dao op dié webblad beskikbaar.) Aangesien die vertaler van dié gedig nie genoem word nie, verwys ek jou graag ook na die (waarskynlik beter) vertaling deur Bonnie McDougall op Poetry Foundation se webtuiste. Gaan lees gerus ook die interessante lesing oor Bei Dao en sy leserspubliek op die Universiteit van Stanford se webblad.

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Answers

 

Cruelty is the ID pass of the cruel,

honesty the grave stone of the honest.

Look, in the sky plated gold,

crooked reflections of all the dead float around.

The glacial epoch is over,

so why is there ice everywhere?

Good Hope was rounded a long time ago,

so where are these thousands of boats racing on the Dead Sea?

I came into this world

with only blank pages, rope and my fingers;

therefore, before final judgements are given,

I need to speak in all the voices of the defendants.

Just let me say, world,

I--don't--believe!

If a thousand challengers are under your feet

count me as challenger one-thousand-and-one.

I don't believe the sky is always blue;

I don't believe it was thunder echoing;

I don't believe all dreaming is false;

I don't believe the dead cannot bring judgement.

If the sea is doomed someday to break its levees

my heart must flood with all the bitter waters.

If the land is destined to form the hills again,

let real human beings learn to choose the higher ground.

The latest, favorable turnings, the twinkling stars

studding the naked sky,

are pictographs five-thousand years old.

They are the eyes of the future staring at us now.

 

 

© Bei Dao (Vertaler onbekend)