VOA常速英语:Native American Museum Hosts Artists From Across the Americas

Textile artist Porfirio Gutierrez is the descendant of the Zapotecs, an ancient civilization originating in southern Mexico.
纺织艺术家波菲里奥·古铁雷斯是萨波特克人的后裔，萨波特克是起源于墨西哥南部的一种古老文明。

These are pieces that could be used as centerpiece a wall or actually as rug.
这些作品可以作为墙面或者是地毯的中心装饰品。

He and his family still create their hand-woven crafts using the time-honored techniques of their ancestors.
他和他的家人仍然使用祖先留下的古老技术来制作手工编织的工艺品。

He describes them as functional art that’s inspired by the natural world.
他将它们称之为受自然世界启发的功能性艺术。

One of my memory as a child is walk up into the mountains above the hill to collect the plants that my parents needed for making their dyes.
我记得我还是个孩子的时候，会到山上收集父母制作染料所需的植物。

Almost like a pilgrimage, they told us about the respect that we need to have towards our Mother Earth.
每一次就像朝圣之旅一样，他们会告诉我们要尊重大自然。

As well as where the plants are growing, what are the colors that they give us, and what are the time to collect them.These ways of making colors and making an authentic piece is disappearing.
还会告诉我们植物的生长位置，我们能从中提取到什么颜色，以及要什么时候才能进行采摘。这些提取颜色和制作纯正手工制品的方法如今正在消失。

So I feel like I need to contribute into the preservation.And the only way to preserve it it’s to actually employ these old ways of making the arts.
我觉得我需要为保护这种传统艺术做出贡献，而保护它的唯一途径就是用这些古老的方法来制作艺术品。

Gutierrez’s textiles were among the hundreds of handcrafted artworks on display at the Native American art market in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington. 古铁雷斯制作的纺织品是位于华盛顿史密森美国国立印第安人博物馆展出的数百件手工艺艺术品之一。

They represent traditional and contemporary works by more than 30 native artists from North America.
这些作品代表了30多位北美本土艺术家的传统作品与当代作品。

Like Gutierrez, many of the artists are inspired by nature.Traditional jeweler Jane Myers, for example, uses elk teeth and buffalo bone for some of her pieces.
像古铁雷斯一样，许多艺术家进行创作都受到大自然的启发，例如，传统珠宝商简·迈尔斯在她的一些作品中运用了麋鹿牙齿和水牛骨。

Each elk has two ivory teeth, so I do these necklaces and then I also... they have buffalo bone beads.
每个麋鹿制品搭配两个象牙色的牙齿，我用这些做成项链，然后我也…这里还有水牛骨珠。

I try to use all the same items that we used as traditional Native people 200 years ago.
我试着使用200年前传统土著人使用过的物品来制作这些制品。

Visual artist Kathleen Wall digs clay from the land around Hemas Pueblo in New Mexico to make her signature dolls.
视觉艺术家凯瑟琳·沃尔从新墨西哥州赫马斯·普韦布洛周围的土地中挖掘粘土，制作这些别具特点的娃娃。

This piece here in particular. She is hand built from the bottom up and I use a coil technique.And of course I dig up my clay and I start from the bottom, I coil, and I keep coiling.
尤其是这个作品，完完全全是手工制作，我使用了线圈技术。挖出黏土，从底部开始绕圈，一直做到上面。

After the coiling has done, I let it dry, scrape it, sand it and then I used a kiln for firing. The museum has been holding the annual event since 2006.
绕完圈，就让它风干，刮掉多余的部分，撒上沙子，然后用窑烧成灰。自2006年以来，博物馆每年都举办这一活动。

But we’re hoping the people will take away from this experience is the civilization of the contributions of native people to the Americas.
我们希望人们能从这次经历中了解到土著人民对美洲文明所做的贡献。

They were here first. They’ve always been here. They’ve gone through a lot of adversity.And they are still thriving the strong creative cultures.
是他们先来到这里，而且一直都在这里，他们经历了许多逆境，但仍在发扬强大的创意文化。

And the art represented in this market doesn’t just reflect the beauty and rich history of native cultures.But the strength and resilience of the people themselves.
这里所展现出的艺术不仅反映了本土文化的动人魅力与丰富历史，更展现了人民自身的力量和韧性。

Julie Taboh VOA News Washington.
美国之音记者Julie Taboh华盛顿报道。