内容提要
　　序
　　欧亚平
　　三年前，当我们筹划上海外滩美术馆的开馆之时，曾经设想过在美术馆的六楼展出原亚洲文会“上海博物院”的有关资料，因为这段历史不但是这栋大楼所承载的独特的文化遗产，也是我们决定在此建立一个当代艺术博物馆的重要因素。作为这份遗产的继承人和守护者，我们想不到除了把这栋大楼重新还给公众、献给艺术之外，还能有任何更有意义和更负责任的用途。现在回过头来看，上海外滩美术馆与曾经的上海博物院，这两个机构就不仅仅是先后寄身于这栋大楼的过客，而是某种精神的延续或再生的关系。在这里，文化与建筑、精神与物质、历史与现实，如此偶然又无可避免地交织在一起，构成了今天外滩美术馆的物理存在和文化身份的基础。
　　然而也正因为此，我们需要特别警惕历史的作用。历史不只是纪念和缅怀的对象，它还是活跃的基因和强大的能量。不管我们是否认识到，它都在持续地塑造着我们的生命，左右着我们的思想和行为。因此，对于希望掌握命运，创造未来的人，追问、质疑、批评乃至颠覆某种历史，乃是一种无可避免的选择。2012年上海外滩美术馆的《时光旅行者》展览，即是一次对“上海博物院”这份独特的文化遗产的纪念，同时也是作为一个面向未来的博物馆对自身历史的批判性的回顾。这种回顾的意义超越了美术馆自身的范畴，引导着我们去发现和思考影响我们的更加普遍而深层次的文化因素。
　　所以这并不是一个常规的历史性的展览，而是一次对博物馆本身作为文化与知识的生产机制的拷问。展览以四组当代艺术家的作品为主要内容，借用动物和文物形态、经典的艺术品媒介和材料，架设了一条通往传统博物馆形态的通道。在此过程中，传统博物馆所预设与隐含的知识、历史、文化和审美价值观及权威性，被艺术家的创作深刻地动摇了，犹如揭开了魔术师手中的幕布。当观众穿过通道抵达美术馆六楼的时候，旧日上海博物院的遗物和影像呈现在眼前。这些物件散发着时间的光晕，仿佛带我们回到温暖的家园。但家园只是幻觉；在时光旅行者的眼中，传统叙事的美妙与虚幻同样昭然若揭。
　　这次展览也是一次审美的探险之旅。黄永砅、孙原和彭禹、颜磊、刘建华四组艺术家的作品或磅礴、或机智、或丰富、或沉静，让我们领略到形式的创造、材料的锤炼与语言的修辞之美。我非常感谢五位艺术家和美术馆年轻的策展人廖薇为我们带来这样一个充满挑战和丰富体验的项目。
　　在外滩美术馆迈入诞生后第三个年头之际，这个展览是一个适时的回顾与前瞻，尽管仅仅是在艺术和思想的范畴之内。未来，我们以展览项目推动艺术与文化的发展并联结社会的努力会更加明确和坚定，也衷心希望能够得到更多公众和社会力量的关注和参与。
　　欧亚平
　　上海外滩美术馆董事会主席
Foreword
　　Thomas Ou
　　When we were planning the opening of the Rockbund Art Museum three years ago，an idea was mooted of having a display，on the sixth floor，of materials related to the former Shanghai Museum run by the Royal Asiatic Society，since not only was this period in the building’s history a unique part of its own cultural heritage，it was also a major factor in why we chose to establish a contemporary art museum located in it. As we were charged with carrying on and preserving this legacy，we could think of no more meaningful way of using the building，nor of one that better fulfilled these responsibilities than once more making it open to the public as an institution in the service of art. Looking back from where we are now，it becomes apparent that the Rockbund Art Museum and former Shanghai Museum are more than just two institutions that took their turn occupying the same built space：the one is in a certain spiritual sense the continuation of the other，or its rebirth. This is a place where culture and architecture，the spiritual and material，and history and the present have become woven together in a way that is simultaneously happenstance and unavoidable. It is these combinations that have laid the foundation for both the Rockbund Art Museum’s physical presence and its cultural identity.
　　Yet it is precisely because this is the case that we must be particularly aware of the role that history plays. History is not merely the object of commemoration or nostalgia; it is also a vigorous，active heritage and a powerful source of energy. Whether we discern it or not，history continues to shape all our lives and controls our thinking and behaviour. This means that people who seek to master their own fate and to create their own future cannot but choose to inquire into，question，criticise and even overturn a certain history. The 2012 exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum，Time Traveler，serves both to celebrate the unique cultural heritage that has come down to us from the old Shanghai Museum，and at the same time provide a critical retrospective of our own history as a museum oriented towards the future. The significance of this looking-backwards goes beyond just the category of the art museum itself，prompting us to uncover and contemplate still more universal and deeply ingrained cultural factors that exercise influence over us.
　　Thus this is by no means a historical exhibition in the usual sense，being rather a museum investigating its own role as an institution that produces culture and knowledge. The main content of the exhibition is works by four groups of contemporary artists. They have，by borrowing forms from animal and cultural artefacts and using classic art media and materials，created a conduit that connects with the morphology of the traditional museum. Within the process of so doing，the creative work of the artists has unsettled and questioned in profound ways the authority of the knowledge and of the historical，cultural and aesthetic values that traditional museums are predicated on and that are implicit in the existence of such institutions. It is as if the methodology behind a conjurer’s tricks has been unveiled. When visitors to the show arrive on the sixth floor having traversed this conduit，they will be presented with artefacts and images from the old Shanghai Museum. These are objects suffused with the luminescent aura of time，seemingly taking us back to some place warm like home. But this home is merely a mirage; under the gaze of the time traveler both the splendours and illusions of the traditional narrative mode have become abundantly apparent.
　　This exhibition is also a journey of exploration into aesthetics. The works by the four groups — Huang Yong Ping，Sun Yuan and Peng Yu，Yan Lei and Liu Jianhua — in their imposing majesty，sharp wit，rich abundance or contemplative serenity allow us an appreciation of the creation of form，the way materials are fashioned and the beauty of rhetoric in language. I am enormously grateful to these five artists，and to our young curator，Ella Liao，for realizing a project so full of challenge and rich in experiences.
　　At this juncture in time，as the Rockbund Art Museum enters the third year of its new life，this exhibition serves as both a timely retrospective and a gaze forward into the future，albeit confined only within the categories of art and thought. In the days to come we shall be still more clear and resolute in our use of exhibitions to promote the development of art and culture and in our work of seeking to connect with the society. It is our sincere wish that we might attract still greater interest and participation from an ever wider audience and a larger range of social forces.
　　Thomas Ou
　　Chair，Board of Directors，Rockbund Art Museum

目录