2012年1月7日 星期六

禮物墟活動 Bazzar of Gifts

人人贈物物 ‧ 物物贈人人

曾幾何時,在金錢、商業出現以前,男女老幼共有共享的不
只田地、食水、農作物和獵物,還有他們的哀傷、希望和夢想。他們無法想像腳下的土地、河流和山脈 -作為萬物的家園- 能被任何人據為己有,挪為私用。重提這些,並不是想沉醉於我們投射於古人的浪漫想像,而是想指出這種基於信任和共同的生活,這些人皆有之的常識,在現世已被渾然全忘。

在「佔領中環」裡,我們嘗試在現實中打開一個缺口,以重構這一段已消亡的記憶。在這個開放的空間裡,大至水電、伙食、傢俱,小至書本、煙草和睡床被舖,無一不是共有共享。物質以外,我們為對方送上時間...、笑容和問候。我們想去看看,一種建基於分享和送贈的生活,到底是怎樣?我們也曾抱有質疑,不知道自己可以送出多少;直至發現,原來分享會令我們過得更滿足。我們思索,到底如何令這段時間積累的經驗,跟我們遇上的每一個人分享。希望這次「佔領中環禮物墟」,能讓你體驗我們的感受:一種購買和擁有以外的快樂。

這星期日,帶你的一首歌、一首詩、一本書、一張椅、一個多士爐、一塊牛排、一雙滑冰鞋…來到首次的「佔領中環禮物墟」。你可以送出任何東西,或者留下字條,讓下一個保管人知道這禮物的來歷,和它與你的故事;你甚至可只帶一雙手、一個空袋子,然後拿走任何一件觸動你的禮物。每個人帶來的東西,會集中一處,讓任何人自由拿取。所有東西都是免費的,不涉及交換和比價,包括你將會遇到,其他同樣相信生命本身就是無價的禮物的人,和與他們對話交流,都無法用金錢去計算和衡量。


EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE!


Once upon a time, in an age before money and commerce, men and women shared the fields they tilted, the water they drank, the food they harvested and hunted. More than this, they shared their sorrows, their hopes, their dreams. All of these things, they did in common. Selfishness and stinginess did not occur to them, for they simply could not conceive of a world in which lands, rivers and mountains could be seized, that they could 'belong' to anyone by legal right. They could not imagine that somebody could point to a plot of land - a gift of Nature and a home to all forms of life, animal, human and vegetable - and say 'this is MINE, get lost'. That we speak of these people simply to say that we, their wretched descendents, have forgotten that they ever existed, that man once lived upon a basis of trust and generosity with his fellows, and that these things came naturally, for they were common sense.

At Occupy Central, we have attempted to revive this memory by creating a space in which everything - blankets, furniture, cigarettes, food, water, mattresses, books and tents are shared. Besides these material necessities, we have given gifts of time, laughter and concern to one another. We have tried to see what it would be like for us to build a life upon giving. This required us to give up a lot of things. We were skeptical, and we didn't know that we had so much to give. This is something we would like very much to share with everyone we come into contact with, and we spent many hours thinking about just how this could be done, before coming up with the idea to arrange a special event to show just what we mean.

Next Sunday, we would like to invite you to our first Bazaar of Gifts. The principle of this is simple - everyone brings a bunch of things that they would like to give others, and deposits them in the space for others to take. Bring a song, a poem, a record, a chair, a book, a toaster, a beef steak, roller skates, anything! Perhaps you would also like to attach a label for a note of some sort that tells the future custodian of the gift about the history of the object and the meaning that it has for you. You can even come empty-handed to see what others have brought and take what tickles your fancy. Everything is FREE, including the conversations you could have with others who believe that all of life is an immeasurable gift that cannot be evaluated or priced.