About Lisa1Q1: Why do you decide to come to China in the first place?起初为什么决定来中国呢？A1: Because when I was a student, there were not many good Mandarin resources in American colleges, so it was very hard to learn it without coming to China.因为我上学的时候，美国的普通话教育资源很匮乏。不来中国就很难学好中文。Q2: So you were very interested in China?所以你对中国很感兴趣吗？A2: I studied International Relations, so China was one of the many things I am interested in. And I was also an avid language learner. I was pretty much finished with Spanish, and found out I was very bad at Arabic. So Chinese was the next thing on my list.我那时是学国际关系的，所以中国是我众多兴趣之一。我也很热衷学语言。当时我的西班牙语已经学得差不多了，而阿拉伯语对我来说又太难了，所以汉语就成了我的下一个目标。Q3: Can you brief us about your job in the art circle?能简要介绍一下您在艺术界的工作吗？A3: The job I have is as the China Bureau Chief and Correspondent for The Art Newspaper, which is a London-based industry paper. We report very specifically on news, exhibitions and development in the art circle all over the world. Other art journals are more critical and academic. They do more about history and reviews of exhibitions. In comparison, we are more journalistic. We do more interviews and interesting stories behind the scenes. There is really no one else in the art world does the same kind of reporting as we do. I used to be their freelancer and last year, the headquarters decided we needed a formal China Bureau, and then I was promoted from a freelancer to a bureau chief.我的工作是The Art Newpaper（TAN）主编和记者。我们的总部在伦敦，对全球艺术界的新闻、展览以及动态进行详尽报道。一般的艺术杂志会刊登许多艺术批评和展览点评，往往批判性、学术性更强。而相比之下，我们更偏重报道的新闻性，会做更多访谈，挖掘更多幕后故事——这在艺术杂志界是独一无二的。我过去是TAN的自由撰稿人。去年总部决定开设中国分部，于是我就被提拔为了中国部主编。 About the Art Circle2Q4: What’s your opinion about the art circle in China?您如何看待中国的艺术圈？A4: Things have developed so fast in a couple years, so there isn’t time for the professionalism to catch up. Things are very ad hoc and fly-by-night. Although the rest of the world sees Chinese art market as very interesting and promising, still it is hard for them to figure it out. That's the biggest frustration.近些年来，中国艺术圈发展特别快，所以有些方面的专业性一下子还跟不上，偶尔会让人觉得有些浮躁。尽管大家都觉得中国艺术市场很有前景，趣味横生，但很难将其完全摸透，这让国际业界挺头疼的。Q5: Can you share some dark sides in art circle with us?其实艺术圈也有不太光鲜的一面吧？A5: Let’s just take (private) museums as an example. They were usually opened by wealthy collectors or property developers. A couple of these museums are excellently done, but the majority of them are just a building with a lot of money. They treat their human resources so badly. They pay someone with a master’s degree from the UK or the US as low as 5000 RMB a month, and someone who only has a bachelor’s degree as little as 2000 RMB a month. That’s very low. You can’t get people to be professional without paying them. As for the top end, the owners won’t let the manager manage, so there is a lot of conflict and drama.以私人美术馆为例。中国的私人美术馆大多是富有的收藏家或地产商开办的，有一部分相当优秀，但也不乏纯粹用钱堆砌出来的场馆。不少美术馆对人力资源不够重视。在有的私人机构，毕业于英美院校的硕士只能拿到5000元的月薪，而只有大学文凭的雇员每月竟只能拿到2000元。不给足够的薪水，如何指望他们拿出专业精神呢？而从管理层的角度来说，私人美术馆老板经常干涉实际经营者管理，这就会引发一些矛盾。Q6: Do you recommend fresh graduates to work in the art industry?你建议刚迈出校园的毕业生就职艺术圈吗？A6: I think for every job, you need to do your research as early as possible and keep watching the advertisements. See who has good opportunities, but also look forjobs that re-open every few months, it means people there quit frequently. Alsobuild up your connections, if people know you they will give you leads. This doesn’t just apply for the art industry. I also think it will help if you are proactive and flexible. I see many people just go in the entry-level job and kind of juststay and die there. They are never able to make much money and get kicked around by their bosses. But I also see people go in and push back. They learn a lot and move to a better place. They do it repeatedly and finally open their own gallery or project.我认为不管什么职业，你都得尽早做调研，经常关注招聘广告. 看看谁可以给你提供机会，但也要注意那个工作是否经常招聘，因为那意味着有人经常辞职。还要看看能不能通过周围的人找些路子——这道理可不局限于艺术界。另外，灵活多变，占据主动也大有好处。我看到很多人从底层做起，从此就留在了底层，挣不到大钱，还要被老板呼来唤去。但也有的人进了艺术圈后很有作为——他们会在学到足够的知识后去挑战新的领域，这样反复几次，最终开办自己的画廊或项目。 About Job Hunting3Q7: Is it possible for students majoring in languages without any art background to work in art industry?你认为没有艺术背景的语言类毕业生能从事艺术界的工作吗？A7: Absolutely, especially if you go into art journalism. A language degree means that you have a grasp of at least one language. You know how to write and articulate ideas. In terms of art backgrounds, I would rather have someone who knows how to research, how to write and get things done than some who knows a lot about art, because you can always learn knowledge. It is easier to learn a topic than to learn skills.当然，尤其是艺术新闻领域的工作。语言类文凭意味着你至少熟练掌握了一门语言，懂写作、会表达。至于艺术背景嘛，我宁愿对方知道如何调研，如何写作，如何完成任务，而不是只有一脑瓜子艺术知识，毕竟知识是可以现成学的。磨练技能可比记点知识难多了。Q8: Will women encounter more obstacles in art industry, like they do in other industries?女性在艺术界也会和在其他行业一样遇到困难吗？A8: I would say the art circle is heavily female, but mostly it is women in the worse-paid support jobs, while more men are the star artists and big museum directors and curators. Maybe 5%, or less, of China’s top artists are women. It’s not as bad as some industries, but there definitely is discrimination, and that’s made worse by a taboo on talking about sexism. However, because it is a decentralized and emerging industry, there are many chances for women to create their own spaces and projects –though not enough women who get some power use their positions to make the situation better for others.本身许多艺术家或业内人士就是女性，但是女性从事的都是薪水不高的辅助性工作，而男性都是明星艺术家和大美术馆馆长。在中国，也许只有5％或者较之更少的女性是顶级的艺术家。虽不像一些行业那么明显，但性别歧视确实存在。更糟的是，性别歧视还被列为禁忌话题。然而，因为艺术圈是一个去中心化的新兴行业，女性有许多机会去创造她们自己的空间和项目，尽管没有足够多有能力的女性改善这一状况。Q9: Are women usually paid less in art industry?在艺术界，女性的工资会相对男性少吗？A9: I would say yes. Partly it is because of, what I just said, women go into the support roles rather than be the stars, and also because women are afraid to ask for better pay, they are embarrassed to be pushy. The thing is to ask, but women tend to undermine ourselves and lack confidence from the beginning, and ask for less.我认为是的。就像我刚才提到的，部分原因是女性大都从事辅助性的工作而非主角，同时也因为女性有时怯于开口，不想被人看作太功利。关键就是要开口为自己争取，可女性往往不自觉地会局限自己，一开始就没什么自信去争取自己应得的那一份。Q10: You mean they need to speak out?你是说女性应当更勇于表达自己？A10: Yes, they need to speak out. But it is also very tricky. If they speak out too much, they will get punished for it. They have to kind of read the situation. That’s not unique to art, that’s not unique to China.对，女性需要表达自己的意愿。但是这又很微妙。如果你说得太多了，就会受到惩罚。你要根据具体的情况来作出判断。这道理不限于艺术圈，也不限于中国。 As a Journalist4Q11: What’s the interview that impressed you most?你印象最深刻的访谈是什么？A11: I’ve done thousands of interviews, so it is really hard to pick one. I had one a few months ago with artist Zhang Dali about his show in Wuhan. I was able to bring up several controversial topics, the sort of questions that would offend a lot other artists. But he just laughed and shared a humorous story with me. What makes it memorable is his openness.我做过上千次访谈，挑一个还挺难的。几个月前，我和艺术家张大力谈了谈他在武汉的展览。我提了一些挺有争议的问题，很多艺术家要是碰到那类问题都会特别恼火，而他只是一笑而过，还给我讲了个笑话。他的坦率让我这次采访印象深刻。
