万曼之歌 Maryn Varbanov and the Chinese Avant-Garde in the 1980s

万曼 (Maryn Varbanov，1932年出生，保加利亚，1989年去世，北京)是一位享有盛誉的艺术家，他的影响力广泛，从故乡索非亚到第二故乡巴黎，以及对中国八五新潮美术的影响之深远。上世纪六十年代席卷欧洲的总体艺术，利用自然和新的纤维材料，形成空间化、雕塑化的现代壁挂艺术，在这样的契机下万曼来到中国，将中国当代的纤维艺术扶植，在材料上的突破和空间形态的突破催生了一种“软雕塑”，建立了现代造型艺术与建筑设计的新的生命联系，在北京/杭州的工作室除了培养了出一批极具创造力和才能的艺术家之外，极大启发了中国早期的装置艺术创作，在重精神影响的“八五新潮”这段时间乃至八十年代后期整个中国艺术界的发展，从道德及精神意义上都带来重大影响。

Maryn Varbanov (born 1932, Bulgaria – died 1989, Beijing) was a prestigious artist whose influence stretched from his native Sofia, to his adopted home of Paris, and more notably to China, where he was a powerful influence on the formation of the country’s avante-garde in its crucial, early years. The transformative impact of the industrial revolution on art drives the advent of the Total Art Movement that swept across Europe and America in 1960s, fibre art began to reflect more subtle shifts and took on strong spatial and sculpture tendencies. It was exactly at this juncture that Varbanov tried to foster China’s own contemporary fibre art, and the ‘soft sculpture’ was born out of breakthroughs in terms of materials and spatial dimension of Varbanov’s art. Vital connections between modern plastic arts and architectural design where established and at the same time inspired the early Chinese works of installation art.

《永恒的动力之二》1989

Perceptual Movement II(1989)

I. 新中国第一例涉外婚姻

First "Mixed" Marriage

1951年，作为解放后中国第一批交换留学生之一，万曼就读于北京的中央美术学院，和著名的宋夫人相识相恋，后联名写信给周恩来总理请求同意结婚，半年后这对相爱的恋人办理登记，成为新中国第一例涉外婚姻。夫妇二人之后便在巴黎和索非亚之间生活和工作。

In 1951, as one of the first exchange students in liberated China, Varbanov studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and went on, against the laws of the day, to wed his translator and minder, the illustrious Madame Song. The couple wrote a letter to Zhou Enlai(the first Premier of the People's Republic of China) and asked the permission. The couple got the marriage registration after got approved by the government which marked the first Chinese-foreign marriage in China. Soon they went on to live and work between Paris and Sofia, returning to the mainland only after opening up in the early 1980s.

1957年5月，法国壁挂艺术家让·吕萨尔在北京中央美术学院陈列馆展出其作品，万曼深受启发，决定从事壁挂创作。

In 1957, Varbanov was inspired by the exhibition of Jean Lurçart, the French tapestry artist, held at the Exhibition Hall of China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and decided to work in tapestry as well.

Maryn Vrbanov in the studio at Cité International des Arts Paris

Photo Courtesy of Kuo In-Sen

万曼在巴黎国际艺术城的工作室，摄影：郭英声

1960年，万曼创建了索非亚艺术学院的第一个壁挂系，进行一系列编织雕塑的实验。他开创了“软雕塑”—现在被称为“纤维艺术”—的流派，他颠覆性地重新利用挂毯作为装饰艺术，并解放隐藏其中的建筑结构。万曼随后连续三年在洛桑国际双年展上展示了他先锋的纤维艺术。1971年万曼结识“法国文化部部长纳德·安东尼奥后者向他发出到法国进修邀请。75年，万曼正式全家移居巴黎，进入巴黎艺术城。随后在著名的巴黎现代艺术博物馆(Musee d‘Art Modern ne de la Ville de Paris)、艾蒂安美术馆(Galerie Etienne De Causans)、奥德马特美术馆(Galerie Herve Odermatt)和巴黎大皇宫(Grand Palais)先后展出。他先后得到了收藏家乔治·赫克利(George Heckly)和皮埃尔·卡丹(Pierre Cardin)的拥簇支持，后者在巴黎皮尔卡丹艺术中心（Espace Cardin)展出了万曼的作品，并在20世纪80年代初跟随万曼的步伐来到中国。

In 1960 Varbanov founded Sofia Academy of Art’s first tapestry department where experimentations in woven sculptures took place. He pioneered the genre of “soft sculpture” – now known as “fiber art” – by subversively re-appropriating the decorative art of tapestry and interrogating its underlying architectonic structure. Varbanov went on to show his visionary textile works at three consecutive International Biennales in Lausanne. In 1971, Varbanov got to know Benard Anthonoioz(Director of Ministère de la Culture of France) who later invited him to study in France. In 1975, Varbanov moved to Paris(Cité Internationale des arts Paris) with his entire family. He then showed at the prestigious Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Galerie Etienne de Causans, Galerie Herve Odermatt, and The Grand Palais. He had the support of the collector George Heckly and Pierre Cardin, who showed Varbanov’s work at the Espace Cardin in Paris and also followed him to China in the early 1980s.

MV Couple, Goat wool, 1976-1978, 220cm(H),24(D)cm, 25cm(D)

伴侣, 山羊毛, 220厘米(高),24厘米(直径),25cm(直径))

II. 万曼与中国的八十年代——“第二次启蒙”

Maryn Varbanov and the 1980s in China 

“万曼的工作是在整个八十年代中国文化开放的背景下才能得到完整的理解。”费大为在采访中提到。

20世纪80年代初，万曼慷慨地将 Cité des Art 的工作室捐赠给杭州的浙江美术学院(现在的中国美术学院)，将原本与世隔绝的中国带领到全球艺术界。1985年，万曼与几位中国青年艺术家、批评家一同在北京国家美术馆组织了现代艺术壁挂艺术展览。这场展览也同时是艺术家罗伯特·劳森伯格(Robert Rauschenberg)在中国的首次重要亮相。策展人侯瀚如引用当时劳申伯格的话说，这次软雕塑展览是他见过的最好的展览之一。

‘Varbanov’s work could only be understood in its entirety within the context of the opening up of Chinese culture in the 1980s’ Fei Dawei said in an interview.  

In the early 1980s Varbanov generously donated a studio at Cité des Art to the Zhejiang Academy of Art in Hangzhou (now known as the China Academy of Art) singlehandedly ushering an otherwise isolated China to the global art community. In 1985 Varbanov organized and participated, along with several young Chinese artists, in the Modern Artistic Tapestry Exhibition at the National Art Gallery in Beijing. The show ran concurrent with Robert Rauschenberg’s momentous China debut. Curator Hou Hanru quotes Rauschenberg at the time saying that the “soft sculpture exhibition was one of the best shows he had ever seen”.

80年代末万曼应邀在杭州的中国美术学院成立了万曼壁挂研究所(IATV)。这位艺术家从中国和东欧的贸易历史中汲取素材，“当时（八十年代）的中国主要还是壁毯艺术，多是模拟自然图案的传统样式，而万曼独树一帜，表现纤维材料本身。”（覃大立）。他将希腊人、斯拉夫人和奥斯曼人的编织情感与中国传统的丝绸和羊毛编织交织在一起，将装置作为一种艺术形式在中国奠定了基础。87年万曼艺术壁挂研究所与浙美一起于上海展览中心发起“中国壁挂艺术展1987”。

Varbanov was then invited to establish the Institute of Art Tapestry Varbanov (IATV) at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. “Back in 1980s, Varbanov was a striking force in the. Aesthetics of fibre art, since China was still dominated by tapestry featured with traditional patterns imitating patterns existing in nature. But his approach stood out by focusing on expressing the fibre material itself. ”Underscoring the identity of tapestry as an imported good, the artist drew from both Chinese and Eastern European trade histories. He interlaced Hellenic, Slavic, and Ottoman knitting sensibilities with traditional Chinese silk and wool weaving and inadvertently helped to lay the foundation for installation as an art form in China. In May 7th 1987, IATV and Zhejiang Academy of Art co-curated the ‘China Tapestry Art Exhibition 1987’ in Shanghai Exhibition Centre. 

展览现场，中国壁挂艺术展1987，上海展览中心 

Installation view, China Tapestry Art Exhibition1987 

万曼于1989年去世，但 IATV 仍然存在，活跃在杭州，近年来发起了国际纤维艺术三年展。

Varbanov passed away in 1989 but IATV still is alive and active in Hangzhou, recently initiating an international Triennial of Fiber Art.

III. 万曼壁挂艺术的观念特征

Concept of Maryn Varbanov's Fiber Arts

“他将壁挂材料与中国人的一些物质观念结合，万曼先生对自然材料的运用显然启发了很多人，如梁绍基用蚕茧，谷文达用头发、墨锭、茶叶等等，他们作为万曼先生的学生，正式继承了万曼先生将观念和形式结合的思想。他们将传统材料直接转换成当代作品的思想为我们提供了一种非常开放的艺术观念。” ——黄专

His combination of tapestry fabric with Chinese concept of material- for example, the mixture of biological material- also illustrates the characteristic dual tradition. Although we have yet to see bio material in his own work, but his use of natural materials has certainly inspired a lot others, such as Liang Shaoji, who uses silkworm cocoons, and Gu Wenda, who creates with human hair, ink stick and tea leaves. As Varbanov’s former students, they inherited his idea of weaving concept and form together. His vision of transforming traditional material directly into contemporary art works furnishes us with a very open concept of art. (Huang Zhuan)

MV Fenêtres,1978, Goat wool, 220x90cm

万曼之窗, 1978, 山羊毛, 220x90厘米

“万曼义务反顾地投身这个现代编织艺术的“史诗”年代，材料是他宏大诗意的第一语言。对纤维材料自身的表现力进行各种可能性的挖掘的试验也是万曼先生这一时期的重要事件，他将深藏在保加利亚农村但依然在实践着的对山羊毛的传统处理技术运用到壁挂创作中来。

山羊毛是壁挂织作中最难处理的，万曼将制作好的壁挂置于一个高压的水龙头下冲洗，让水的离心运动激起羊毛的反应，将山羊毛的毛质感充分地呈现出来，使山羊毛的绒毛质地被表现得淋漓尽致。他在保加利亚奥里亚赫沃的山村之中寻求赫挖掘民间的艺术宝库，他温厚淳朴的气质与自然纤维的气息有着天然的契合，他热爱这些毛、麻、棉等自然材料，就想热爱山岭上的绿野和绿野中的羊群。” (施慧）

“Varbanov plunged into the ‘epic’ era of modern art of weaving without hesitation, and material was the first language of his grand poetic imagination. Explorations with various possibilities of the expressiveness of fibre materials themselves also constituted an important part of Varbanov’s crucial practice in this period. He applied those traditional methods of treating goat wool still in practice in rural Bulgaria to his tapestry. 

As goat wool is a particularly difficult material in terms of treatment, Varbanov would rinse finished tapestries under a high-pressure tap, so that the centrifugal movement of water could render the quality of goat wool tangible. He sought to unlock the treasure trove of folk craft art, and his earthy warmth seemed to have an affinity with the feel of natural fibre. He loved natural materials such as wool, linen and cotton, just as he loved wild patches of green and herds of sheep in the Oriahovo. He excelled in using natural qualities of material in the explorative-creative process, and in so doing managed to break the mould of traditional weaving and create a versatile approach to both weaving and styling. ”（Shi Hui）

Butterfly,1975, Goat wool, 200 x 140cm

蝴蝶, 山羊毛, 200x140厘米

“万曼先生的作品，把一种“装饰性”的艺术变成一种很“观念”的艺术，与建筑结合，把空间“人性化”的探讨联系到创作之中。”侯瀚如说道，陈侗在文章《万曼——青铜的编制者》中这也说道，“根据艺术史学家多拉·瓦利埃的分析，万曼先生的全部企图就在于重新记住壁挂表面的物质性，这一企图和塞尚在绘画上对于笔触的强调极为相似，甚至也和戈达尔要在影片中让人意识到摄影机的存在如出一辙。” 

Hou Hanru said Varbanov’s work transformed a “decorative” art into a “conceptualist’ one, combined with architecture context. Varbanov also introduced explorations in the ‘humanising’ of space to the creative process. Curator/Artist Chen Tong also emphasised the materiality and conceptuality of the tapestry in the essay ‘Maryn Varbanov: The Bronw Waever’,“According to art historian Dora Vallier’s analysis, Varbanov’s entire intention was to re-remeber the materiality of the tapestry’s surface, which is analogous to Cezanne’s emphasis on the touch of the brush in painting, or even to Jean Luc Godard’s attempt to make the presence of the camera felt in his movies. ”

《永恒的动力之六》1989

Perceptual Movement VI (1989)

万曼不惮其烦寻找属于中国本土的媒介材料，《棕10》中的松紧带，这个在中国人生活世界里的日常用物，在万曼的作品里传递出一种哲学处境，日常生活世界的图腾被结构成精神的网力，“1989年《永恒的动力》系列作品中，宽大的松紧带编织出震撼性的空间效果，彰显出现代人的生存处境和生命极限。万曼先生极力开掘松紧带材料的延展性能，将手工劳作和材料本身反复试验，结构又反复解构，以考量并逼近我们生存的可能世界。” 

Marynv Varbanov looked up and down for an art medium that was particular to China. All the materials used in Palm X, including the wide elastic band, were all his finds from a painstaking hunt. The everyday items from Chinese life take on a touching ‘dynamism’ and become a modern totem deeply rooted in the quotidian. In the series Perpetual Movement (1998), wide elastic bands are woven in such a way that a striking spatial effect is achieved that signifies the human condition and the limit of life. Varbanov delves deep into the extensibility of elastic bands, experimenting with craftsmanship and materials over and over again in a constant effort to structure and deconstruction in order to examine and approach the possible worlds of our existence. 

万曼对世界艺术的卓越贡献不仅在他自己的持之以恒的艺术实践中，同时他倾其所有投身于教育工作者和欧亚大陆两地之间的文化外交官。在他的艺术实践、个人生活和教育方法中，“他身上体现了一种斯拉夫人的坦诚的精神，同时又有东方儒道文明的影响。” 万曼自由游移于东西方、本土和国际、传统和前卫之间，双重性贯彻他的生活与作品一生。

Varbanov’s inspiring contribution to the global arts was felt in his own stellar practice as well as role as educator and cultural diplomat in both Europe and Asia.Throughout his artistic practice, his personal life, and his pedagogy, Varbanov yet he displayed an influence by the Eastern traditions of Taoism and Confuciansim. He was an open, warm, selfless, upright, broad-minded, radically innovative person. He delicately negotiated between East and West; local and international; tradition and the avant-garde, embodying duality itself as an essential feature to his life and work.

1987,万曼和他的同时及学生在上海“中国壁挂艺术展 1987” 期间合影于锦江饭店

第一排：王一博；第二排：徐进、宋小虹、李健健、梁绍基、蔡兵；第三排左起：蔡萌、蔡亮、万曼、朱伟、施慧、谷文达、卢如来

1987. Maryn and his colleagues and students at Jinjiang Hotel during the' China Tapestry Art Exhibition 1987'