THE KINDEST thing that can be said about India’s pavilion at the Osaka World Expo last year is that it was authentic(真实的，原汁原味的). It opened more than two weeks late. It was chaotic(混乱的，无秩序的). Its displays of ancient temples and ancient paintings looked like something from an ancient tourism-promotion(旅游推广的) advert. And, naturally, it included “inspiring talks and speeches” by Narendra Modi(印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪). As one Japanese visitor who lives in India put it, “The disorganised parts…were very Indian, so if you want to feel the vibe(氛围，感觉) of India, I definitely recommend you go.”
对于印度去年在大阪世博会上的展馆，能说的最善意的话就是它很“原汁原味”。它开幕晚了两周多，一片混乱。其古代寺庙和古画的展示看起来像是老式旅游宣传广告里的东西。而且，自然少不了纳伦德拉·莫迪的“鼓舞人心的演讲”。一位住在印度的日本游客说：“那些杂乱无章的部分……非常印度，所以如果你想感受印度的氛围，我绝对推荐你去。”
So it was with some apprehension that this columnist stood at the threshold of the India pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale, which runs until November.(因此，本专栏作家带着些许忐忑站在今年威尼斯双年展印度馆的门槛前。) This was India’s first appearance at the world’s pre-eminent(卓越的，杰出的) contemporary art show since 2019. On that occasion the government had instructed curators to take inspiration from the 150th anniversary of Gandhi(圣雄甘地)’s birth. It was a theme that only a bureaucrat(官僚，官员) could have dreamed up: unoriginal, unimaginative and above all unlikely to get anyone into trouble (the art itself was praised). This year’s effort was overseen by the same ministry—of culture—that mounted the Osaka debacle(惨败，崩溃).
因此，当本专栏作家站在今年威尼斯双年展印度馆的门槛前时，心中不免有些忐忑。本届双年展将持续到11月。这是印度自2019年以来首次参加这个世界顶级当代艺术展。上一次，政府指示策展人从甘地诞辰150周年中汲取灵感。这个主题只有官僚才想得出来：毫无新意，缺乏想象力，最重要的是不太可能给任何人惹麻烦（艺术品本身倒是受到好评）。今年的展览由同一个文化部负责，正是这个部制造了大阪的惨败。
Ashoka need not have worried. The pavilion is a triumph(胜利，巨大成功). Curated by Amin Jaffer, director of the Al Thani Collection in Paris, it brings together five artists to consider the meaning of home as India undergoes a dramatic physical transformation. Two works steal the show(抢尽风头). Sumakshi Singh’s “Permanent Address” recreates in delicate silk, cotton and nylon her grandparents’ home in Delhi, since demolish(拆除，摧毁)ed to make way for(为...让路) something new—a familiar story in every Indian city. And Asim Waqif’s magnificent “Chaal”, a tangle of hundreds of gigantic stalks of bamboo, nods to the ubiquitous(无处不在的) scaffolding material of a country permanently under construction.
阿育王本不必担心。这个展馆是一次胜利。由巴黎阿勒萨尼收藏馆馆长阿明·贾弗策展，汇集了五位艺术家，探讨在印度经历剧烈物质转型之际“家”的意义。有两件作品最为出彩。苏马克希·辛格的《永久地址》用精致的丝绸、棉和尼龙重现了她在德里的祖宅，这座房子已被拆除，为新建之物让路——这是每个印度城市都熟悉的故事。阿西姆·瓦基夫的宏伟作品《查尔》由数百根巨大的竹竿缠绕而成，致敬了这个永远处于建设中的国家无处不在的脚手架材料。