熱推本國文化的海外文化中心

郭大衛

2012年5月的一天，夜幕降臨，貝寧中國文化中心聚滿了從四面八方趕來的當地居民。約20時許，武術散打短期培訓班結業表演開始，隨著《男兒當自強》的音樂響起，幾十名男女選手輪番登臺表演，臺下觀眾喝彩聲此起彼伏。

在貝寧首都科托努，貝寧中國文化中心就坐落在一個古色古香的院落里，大門是一座典雅的中式牌坊，顯得格外醒目。這里經常舉辦演出、展覽、講座、書展、教學和電影放映等活動，吸引著越來越多的貝寧人前來接觸和了解中國文化。貝寧功夫學會1993年成立，現在已有3000多名成員，中國功夫已經成為貝寧家喻戶曉的“中國名片”。

中國駐貝寧大使陶衛光說，政治制度可以改變，但文化具有傳承性和永久性，貝寧青少年通過中國文化中心豐富多彩的活動，深深地被當代中國的歷史巨變所觸動，要求到中國留學的人越來越多。

貝寧的中國文化中心，建立于20世紀80年代后期。當時，中國政府根據毛里求斯和貝寧政府的要求，在兩個國家的首都路易港和科托努分別設立了占地3600平方米和9600平方米的中國文化中心，分別于1988年7月和9月對外開放，到2012年已經整整24個年頭。

2000年以后，中國開始在海外大規模建立文化中心，與意大利、法國、日本等國家相比，開始得比較遲，但有趕超之勢。中國目前已在巴黎、柏林等主要國際城市建立了文化中心。這些中國文化中心每年共舉辦大約3000場活動。

中國在海外建立文化中心，正是受到了世界其他國家建立文化中心的啟發，并借鑒了其他國家通過海外文化中心推廣本國文化的成功經驗。

通過海外文化中心來推廣本國文化，主要出現在第二次世界大戰之后。海外文化中心以各種方式近距離傳播本國文化、藝術和歷史，廣交朋友，聯絡感情，增強好感，消除誤會，是世界各國致力于宣傳本國文化的重要窗口。

世界各國在海外建立文化中心有多種形式。有相當多國家建立海外文化中心的首選之地是國際大都市或者別國首都。在一個國際或者地區性大都市，有十幾個甚至幾十個國家、地區、國際組織的大大小小的文化中心，是司空見慣的事情。以倫敦和巴黎為例，這兩大國際都市是各國海外文化中心相對比較集中的地方。

有些國家建立海外文化中心，主要為本國僑民服務，采用會館形式。這些文化中心一般設置在海外本國僑民聚居地。比如伊拉克在鄰國土耳其開設的海外文化中心，目的也是聯絡僑居當地的伊拉克人。

各國在國外建立的文化中心的名稱也不盡相同。有些稱為文化中心，有些稱為文化藝術中心，有些稱為文化旅游中心，有些稱為社區文化中心，也有的稱為學院、基金會、協會等。總體來說，不同的名稱反映了宣傳文化方面的側重和范圍，同時也反映了海外文化傳播本身的多樣性和多任務性。

教授本國語言，宣傳本國文化，是很多國家海外文化中心的一大重點。貝寧法蘭西文化院是一座園林式建筑，綠草茵茵，花木繁茂。法語是貝寧官方語言之一，到法蘭西文化院參加活動的人很多。這家文化院占地7000多平方米。在文化院的兒童圖書館，不僅有數萬冊圖書，還有各種兒童活動設施。這個文化院的活動，是將教育和文化融合在一起的大文化概念。

經過幾十年的發展，國外海外文化中心功能逐步完善。有些文化中心以教授語言為主，有些則偏重于文化和藝術的展示和交流，舉辦各種文藝文化活動，并經常舉辦培訓班。有些文化中心側重于促進旅游和留學。有些文化中心提供研究機會，有閱覽室和圖書館，供學者和熱心人士查找資料，了解動態情況。有些海外文化中心經常舉辦展覽，向海外介紹本國的重要歷史事件和真實情況。有些海外文化中心，則定期發布新聞，向海外媒體和文化界人士介紹和推廣國內文化活動。

有些文化中心還有合并的趨勢。例如，韓國目前在海外16個國家有38個語言中心，在20個國家設立了24個文化中心。韓國計劃將海外語言中心和文化中心合并運行，以便更有效地推廣文化和語言。

有一些國家的海外文化中心數量比較多。資料顯示，意大利有89個海外文化中心，法國多達140個，德國的歌德學院在78個國家和地區建有128個國外分支機構。大多數國家的海外文化中心，以政府提供資金和資源為主，企業贊助為輔。如果國家實力雄厚，比較重視，企業熱心，則海外文化中心的數量較多，文化活動內容也比較豐富，設備和功能也比較完善。

目前，中國在海外正式開放的文化中心有9個，在建10個，與22個國家簽署了建立文化中心的協定、備忘錄或聲明。5年來，海外文化中心系統、全面、有計劃地開展了“大文化”領域的交流活動，每年舉辦各類文化活動近3000場，文化在國家對外關系中的作用和影響日益彰顯。國家“十二五”規劃明確提出，要將海外中國文化中心建設成為統籌宣傳文化系統與地方文化資源，布局合理、功能多樣、內容豐富的中華文化海外展示、體驗并舉的綜合平臺。到2020年，中國海外文化中心總數將達到50個以上。

（本文照片由達飛欴提供）

Overseas Cultural Centers： A Cultural Phenomenon

By David Guo

Setting up and operating cultural centers overseas is largely a worldwide cultural phenomenon since the Second World War. These cultural centers function in multiple ways. Windows on national cultures， they promote history， art， culture in foreign countries； they make friends and boost tourism and cultural exchanges.

Cultural centers come in various forms and varieties. It would be very interesting to see where they choose to sit and play. Many cultural centers gravitate toward international metropolises such as Paris and London. In a key international city， it would not be very difficult to see dozens of cultural centers hosted by nations， regions and international organizations. This kind of concentration makes sense. As these cities are culturally and politically important， cultural centers can take the best use of advantages and resources and opportunities there. The presence of these cultural centers also contributes to the cultural diversity and prosperity of these cities.

Some countries set up cultural centers to cater to the needs of their overseas communities. These cultural centers are like home and they usually sit and play in regions and cities where these overseas communities live. Japan operates a series of cultural centers in the United States to cater to the Japanese communities there. These centers offer Japanese language， history， and art to Japanese communities so that Japanese expatriates can learn about their roots and reconnect with their homeland. The Philippines launched in June 2012 in Oman the Middles Easts first “Sentro Rizal”， a cultural center and library dedicated to Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal. The center allows Filipino expatriates in Oman and their children to reconnect with their homeland through books， films and other published materials.

Cultural centers adopt different names. Some call themselves cultural centers directly. Some are art and culture centers； some culture and tourism centers， some community and culture centers. Some have institute， or academy， or foundation， or council in their names. These names reflect the range， focus， and purpose of overseas cultural activities of these countries. They also represent the diversity of cultural promotion overseas. Goethe Institute and Confucius Institute actually fall into a special category of cultural centers that disseminate culture through language learning.

Overseas cultural centers have evolved over decades. Some focus on teaching a language； some hold exhibits and promote cultural exchanges programs； some hold art events； some hold training courses； some promotes tourism and higher education opportunities； some help overseas researchers check through their libraries and reading rooms； some hold regular press conferences about cultural events back home. Some do all these or many of these jobs in different proportions and with different emphasis and enthusiasm in different budgets and sizes.

Some countries are more enthusiastic in setting up and operating overseas cultural centers. Italia has 89 overseas cultural centers； France operates more than 140； Germany has 128 Goethe Institutes in 78 countries； Japan has 22 different organizations run their respective cultural centers in foreign countries. Japan Foundation alone operates more than 20 cultural centers including Japanese Language Academy， Japanese Culture Academy and Japan foundation offices in Europe， Asia， Americas and Africa.

Nowadays， many countries are catching up with the trend of building overseas cultural centers. China is one of them. China is a latecomer in setting up and operating overseas cultural centers. The modernization drive that began in the late 1970s marked the beginning of Chinas awareness of the need to promote Chinese culture overseas. In1988 China set up a cultural center respectively in Mauritius and Benin， two African countries. Through the two cultural centers， China learned how to be culturally close to local residents in foreign countries and how to promote friendship. Over the past 24 years， China has learned a lot about cultural centers and about promoting friendship and Chinese cultural overseas.

In 2004， China began to set up Confucius Institute in foreign countries. So far， there are 358 Confucius Institutes and 500 Confucius Classrooms overseas. They aim to promote the understanding of Chinese language and culture， enhance friendly relations between China and other countries， and promote the growth of diverse world cultures. Confucius Institute is a joint enterprise between Chinese Higher Education Institutes and their foreign counterparts.

Since 2000， overseas Chinese cultural centers are a priority on the national agenda. At present， China operates nine overseas Chinese cultural centers； ten more are under construction； China has signed agreements and memos with 22 foreign countries for setting up cultural centers.

Over the past five years， nearly 3，000 cultural events and shows were staged at the existing Chinese cultural centers overseas， which greatly promoted Chinese culture. The central government and provinces will work together to tap into resources at local level for these overseas cultural centers. People are calling for a top-level strategy for Chinese cultural centers.