慕尼黑厕所艺术博物馆吸引数百人参观

A public toilet in Munich which has been transformed into an art museum has attracted hundreds of people in the first days after opening, a spokesman for the city's tourism agency said on Thursday.

Built in 1894, the toilet house was originally constructed to serve nearby households which lacked necessary facilities.

After being in use for over a hundred years, the toilets were locked up in 1992 because they were very rarely used.

"On the night we opened, around 800 people came to see our work," initiator of the museum project, Mathias Koehler told reporters.

He said that a toilet was a great place for artistic expression because art is a form of relief in the same way that going to the toilet is.

The art exhibited is mainly graffiti often with a political theme. Examples include images of Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel flanking a urinal in the corner of the room.

Four artists contributed their work to the exhibition.

Although the 70-square meter museum is only temporary, Koehler said he could not rule out making it permanent if public interest remains high.

（德国）慕尼黑市旅游局的一位发言人于上周四称，慕尼黑的一家公厕被改造成艺术博物馆后，在刚开放几天内就吸引了数百人前来参观。

这个公厕建造于1894年，最初是为解决附近居民上厕所难的问题而建。

在被使用100多年后，这个厕所于1992年被停用，因为现在已经很少有人使用它。

博物馆改造工程发起人玛西亚斯．科赫勒在接受记者采访时说：“博物馆开放当晚，约有800人前来参观。”

他说，厕所是艺术表达的绝佳场所，因为艺术和上厕所一样，都是一种放松形式。

此次厕所艺术展的多数展品是一些政治主题的“涂鸦”作品，比如，（美国总统民主党候选人）巴拉克．奥巴马和德国总理安吉拉．默克尔的画像就出现在屋内角落处的一个便池旁。

共有四位艺术家为此次展览贡献作品。

尽管这家面积只有70平米的厕所博物馆目前只是临时性的，但科赫勒表示，如果公众热情一直很高，他不排除这个博物馆会长期存在的可能。