内容提要
前 言
英国总领事馆文化教育处很高兴与上海市对外文化交流协会和民生现代美术馆合作，在上海举办“未来总动员 — 英国文化协会当代艺术珍藏展”。本次展览将专门展示英国的当代艺术成就，这些展品都精选自英国文化协会的收藏，该收藏囊括了出自1650余位英国艺术家之手的8500件艺术作品，被公认为全球最精美最全面的英国现当代艺术收藏之一。
展览的名称“未来总动员”取自展览中的一个由马克•蒂奇纳尔创作的巨大灯箱，灯箱上的文字表达了当代艺术家希望得到更多观众积极参与的愿望。在这次展览所涉及的三十年中，艺术在英国社会中发挥的作用产生了巨大的变化。从吉尔伯特与乔治1980年的《精神压抑（Intellectual Depression）》到丽贝卡•沃伦戏谑的装饰塑料丝球的钢铁雕塑《P/D》，展览讲述了艺术对这些变化的体现和反映 — 事实上艺术本身就处于社会变化的最前线。
无可否认，英国的当代艺术在过去三十年里承担了更多社会含义和作用。这种变化的一部分原因是20世纪90年代初富有开创精神并且雄心勃勃的新一代艺术家的崛起，他们被整体称为YBA's（“英国青年艺术家”简称），包括查普曼兄弟、达明安•赫斯特、莎拉•卢卡斯和吉莉安•韦英等。造成变化的其他因素还有：1984年特纳奖（英国第一个专门颁给青年现代艺术家的奖项）的创设；2000年泰特现代美术馆（第一个专门展示英国现当代艺术的公共艺术馆）的开放；艺术、广告和创意产业的融合，特别是在萨奇画廊于1985年开业之后；以及2001年取消对英国公共画廊和博物馆的入场费……所有这些因素综合在一起，使得当代艺术拥有了比以前任何时候都多的大量观众，而且很多观众往往之前对视觉艺术并无体验或了解。换句话说，当代艺术已经成为英国的一个主流活动，不再仅限于少数接受过良好教育的精英，而变得平易、亲切并且被积极地推介给广大兴趣日增的公众。
在此，特别感谢中国对外文化交流协会常务理事、上海市对外文化交流协会副会长兼秘书长郑家尧先生，上海市对外文化交流协会文化艺术处处长殷政伟先生，民生现代美术馆的馆长何炬星先生、副馆长邵波和周铁海先生对此次展览的大力支持。策划组织此次展览的是英国文化协会视觉艺术部的成员：展览项目主任理查德•赖利，收藏品部主任黛安娜•艾克里斯，展览组织艾玛•威廉姆斯以及收藏品部助理辛塔•贝利。我们还要感谢参与此次展览准备工作的伦敦视觉艺术部技术经理马科斯•亚历山大和为展览提供技术支持的团队，他们为展览的成功举办作出了巨大贡献。
同时，也对我们在中国办公室的所有同事：华东地区主任安格文；中国区艺术总监倪韦伯；展览项目经理张妤；展览项目助理王燕表示诚挚的谢意。感谢他们从始至终密切为展览付出的艰辛努力。
我们还要衷心感谢所有参展艺术家们，和他们的画廊以及代理人对此次展览给予的大力支持。同时，对慷慨提供艺术家艾伦•凯恩和杰里米•戴勒《民间档案（Folk Archive）》横幅藏品的爱德•霍表示我们最诚挚的谢意。此外，感谢艺术史学家、作家西蒙•格兰特为画册撰写的关于英国文化协会收藏历史及概览的精彩文章。
Foreword
The Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate-General is delighted to be working in collaboration with Shanghai International Culture Association and Minsheng Art Museum, in presenting The Future Demands Your Participation: Contemporary Art from the British Council Collection in Shanghai. This exhibition of contemporary British art has been created specially for this occasion. It has been selected from the British Council Collection, one of the most comprehensive holdings of modern and contemporary British art in the world, containing some 8500 art works by over 1650 British artists.
The title The Future Demands Your Participation is taken from a large lightbox in the exhibition made by Mark Titchner: its message blazes out as an emblem of the type of engagement contemporary artists now expect to have with their audiences. Within the thirty year period which this exhibition covers, enormous shifts have taken place in the role which art plays within British society. From Gilbert & George¡¯s Intellectual Depression of 1980 to Rebecca Warren¡¯s playful steel sculpture with pompom, P/D, this exhibition tells the story of how art has mapped and reflected these changes ¨C and indeed been at the very forefront of social change itself.
Contemporary art in the UK has undeniably taken on a more socially engaged position in British society over the past three decades. Some of this shift can be attributed to the arrival of a new, entrepreneurial and ambitious generation of artists in the early 1990s, collectively known as the YBA¡¯s (short for Young British Artists) and including artists such as Jake and Dinos Chapman, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Gillian Wearing. Other factors, such as the introduction of the Turner Prize in 1984 (the first prize to be awarded to young contemporary artists in the UK); the opening of Tate Modern in 2000 (the first dedicated public gallery for modern and contemporary art in the UK); the elision of art, advertising and the creative industries, particularly following the launch of the Saatchi Gallery in 1985; and the abolition of admission charges to UK public galleries and museums in 2001, have all played their part in bringing contemporary art to far larger audiences than ever before ¨C often audiences with no prior experience or knowledge of the visual arts. Contemporary art, in other words, has become something of a mainstream activity in the UK, no longer the preserve of a small, educated elite, but available, accessible, and actively marketed to a wide and increasingly fascinated general public.
We would like to thank Mr Zheng Jiayao, Vice President and General Secretary of Shanghai International Culture Association, Mr Yin Zhengwei, Director of Arts Department, Shanghai International Culture Association and Mr He Juxing, Director of the Minsheng Art Museum, Mr Shao Bo and Mr Zhou Tiehai, Deputy Director of the Minsheng Art Museum for agreeing to host the exhibition. It has been selected and organised by members of the British Council¡¯s Visual Arts Department: Richard Riley, Head of Exhibitions; Diana Eccles, Head of Collections; Emma Williams, Exhibitions Organiser and Sinta Berry, Collections Assistant. We would also like to thank Marcus Alexander, Visual Arts Workshop Manager and the technical team in London involved in the preparation of the works for exhibition. We are grateful to them all for their hard work and diligence in bringing this exhibition to fruition.
Thanks also go to all our colleagues in China who have been closely involved with the exhibition from the outset. In particular we should like to thank: Gavin Anderson, Area Director, East China; Neil Webb, Director Arts, China; Lisa Zhang, Exhibition Manager, Shanghai and to Elle Wang, Exhibition Assistant, Shanghai.
Special thanks must go to the artists themselves, and to their galleries and agents who have been so supportive in making this exhibition happen. Additionally we would like to thank Ed Hall for agreeing to lend his exquisite collection of banners for display as part of the extraordinary Folk Archive created by artists Alan Kane and Jeremy Deller. Our thanks also to art historian and writer Simon Grant for his insightful essay on the history of the British Council Collection, past and present. （文章来源：《未来总动员---英国文化协会当代艺术珍藏展》）
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