Two years ago, Li Yiman, a coffee shop owner in Wuzhong, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, received a delivery she was waiting for weeks.
来自宁夏的李依蔓在吴忠市经营着一家咖啡厅。两年前的一天，依蔓收到了一件她等候多时的包裹。
Inside the box, there was a pair of girls' pink plastic sandals in the style of the 1980s. They looked pretty much like a pair she wore a lot in childhood.
盒子里面是一双80年代样式的粉色儿童凉鞋，长得特别像依蔓小时候经常穿的一双。
A frequent to the MOCA Yinchuan, some 40-minute drive from Wuzhong, Li had heard that the museum and Beijing artist Yin Xiuzhen launched a campaign — inviting local residents to donate a pair of shoes they feel especially attached to, and Yin would use them to create a piece of art and place it at the museum.
依蔓喜欢艺术，她常去距离吴忠40分钟左右车程的银川当代美术馆。之前有一次参观的时候，她听说美术馆和北京艺术家尹秀珍联合发起了一个项目，邀请当地的居民捐赠一双对他们有着特殊意义的鞋子，尹秀珍将用这些鞋子做一件作品，在美术馆展出。
银川当代美术馆 ©NAARO
Yin said shoes bear people's bodies, experiences and emotions; they show a person's aesthetic views and his/her choices of path of life.
尹秀珍之所以选择鞋子是因为鞋子承载了人们的身体，同时也承载了人们的体验和情感；鞋子能反映出一个人的审美，以及他们对于生活道路的选择。
But Li discovered she had lost the sandals she wanted to donate. A friend in Shanghai helped her find that vintage pair that looked similar.
依蔓发现她想捐赠的那双儿时的凉鞋已经找不着了，一位在上海的朋友帮忙找到了一双类似款式、但从未被穿过的鞋子。
Li said when she saw the shoes, she was overwhelmed by happy childhood memories; and she didn't feel like parting with them, and wanted to hang them in the shop.
依蔓说当她打开箱子看到那双凉鞋的时候，感觉自己被儿时的快乐回忆所包围；她都有些舍不得把鞋子捐了，反而想把它们摆在店里。
Some 600 pairs of shoes, including Li's, were sent to the museum. They are of men and women, the young and the old. Some have the patina of age upon them. And some look fashionable and expensive.
最终，美术馆收到了600双的鞋子，男款、女款、年轻人穿的、老人穿的；有些鞋子布满了岁月的痕迹，有些鞋子样式很潮、价格不菲。
The shoes were cleaned and dried. And each pair was "put on in" and suspended by a long fabric rope. The ropes were tailor-made and vary in color from nude, pink, white and brown.
这些鞋子被送去清洗、消毒、晾干，然后每双鞋子被“穿”进一根根又粗又长、用布特制的五颜六色的绳子里，悬挂起来。
Yin said the ropes are like people's legs, and they were made in exaggerated length to express the idea that, as people walk longer and farther, their experiences grow.
尹秀珍说这些绳子就好比是人的两条腿，不过它们都被刻意拉长了；夸张的长度代表着当我们越走越远时，我们的经验体会也随之增长。
尹秀珍和完成的作品
This forest of shoes, titled Walking, Thinking, was unveiled at MOCA Yinchuan, and visitors can walk between them.
这件名为《行，思》的作品在银川当代美术馆展出时，人们可以在这片鞋子组成的“森林”中穿行。
Yin said when people sent the shoes they also shared warm, sometimes lost, memories.
尹秀珍说在人们捐出他们的鞋子的时候，他们也在分享那些温暖的、有时候早已被遗忘的记忆。
A glass box was placed in the middle of the forest. Inside, there was a selection of notes on which donors wrote down brief stories about their shoes.
在这片鞋子之林的中间有一个玻璃柜，其中摆放着一些捐赠者随鞋子附上的纸条，纸上简单记录了他们和鞋子的故事。
Many owners told the museum that the shoes mean so much to them and asked if they can be returned after the exhibition ended.
许多人说鞋子对他们太特别了，问展览结束后能否将鞋子取回。
Part of this forest has come to Beijing, being on display at the Red Brick Art Museum through Oct 18.
现在这片鞋子组成的森林的一部分来到了北京，会在红砖美术馆展出至10月18日。
Song Dong, Yin's husband and also an artist, said the forest of shoes shows changes of time, the differences between people and the gap between generations in the way they view emotions, consumption and fashion styles.
尹秀珍的先生、同为艺术家的宋冬说，大家可以从这些鞋子上看到时代的变迁、人与人的差别、不同世代对于情感、消费和时尚的不同看法。
《行，思》在红砖美术馆展出现场
He said moving between the shoes, one would feel as if he has stepped into someone else's walk of life, trying to think the way they do and comparing it with himself.
穿行在这些鞋子当中，我们似乎能体会不同的生活经历，尝试站在他人的角度去考虑问题、对照自己。
Photos courtesy of MOCA Yinchuan and Red Brick Art Museum
图片致谢银川当代美术馆/红砖美术馆
Have a nice weekend！
记者：林琦
来源：CHINADAILY
