墨西哥阿玛迪绘画艺术的由来及其特性

Origins of Mexican Amate art and its features

印第安纳瓦尔人(Nahua)最初生活在今美国西南部和墨西哥西北部地区,约公元500年前后从犹他-阿兹特克语系人群中分离出来,迁徙至墨西哥中部。自定居于墨西哥盆地及周边地区之后,纳瓦尔人逐渐发展成为墨西哥中部占主导地位的民族,创造了包括阿兹特克文明在内的灿烂文化。生活在巴尔萨斯河上游地区的纳瓦尔民间艺人运用树皮纸这种古老的书写记录媒介创造了阿玛迪绘画艺术,这种由市场所催生的新民间艺术具有三大特性,即市场导向性、朴素性和民族性。然而,集这三种特性于一身的阿玛迪艺术其实是极其脆弱的。通过外来者对其他文化的窥视而建立起来,这样的艺术很容易就分崩离析。正如对阿玛迪绘画的回顾审视所展现出来的,土著的艺术表达可以挑战西方艺术类别所施加的限制,阿玛迪艺人们用艺术进行政治抗议的出现证明了土著艺术家具有其自己的身份认同和美学意识。

The Indian Nahuas originally lived in the southwestern part of today＇s United States and northwest Mexico; they separated themselves from the Utah- Aztec group around 500 AD,and then moved to central Mexico. Since their settlement in the Mexico Valley and the surrounding area,the Nahuas gradually developed into a dominant race in central Mexico,and created brilliant cultures,including the Aztec civilization. By using bark paper,an ancient writing medium,the Nahua folk artists from the upper Balsas River region invented Amate art.This new folk art,spawned by the market,has three major features,namely the market- orientation,naivety,and ethnicity. However,the Amate art which aggregates these three features is actually extremely fragile. By establishing itself on the outsiders＇ peek into other cultures,this kind of art is very easy to collapse. As the review on Amate art reveals,the indigenous artistic expression could challenge the restrictions imposed by Western arts. The emergence of Amate artists＇ political protest by art has proved that indigenous artists have their own identity and aesthetic consciousness.