It's a basic and perennial problem of religious art,
这是宗教艺术长期存在的基本问题
which all religions must face.
所有宗教都必须面对
But they take different views of how to handle it.
但它们对此的处理方法则各不相同
And of religious imagery more generally.
更普遍地说是宗教意象的问题
Out on the rural fringes of Istanbul
伊斯坦布尔的边远乡村
is one of the most striking religious creations of modern times.
竖立着最令人惊叹的现代宗教艺术品之一
It appeared on the landscape less than a decade ago
它在这里出现还不过十年
and has drawn people in ever since.
自那以后一直吸引着各地的人们
It's the Sancaklar Mosque...
这就是桑卡克拉清真寺
..The work of one of Turkey's most visionary architects.
出自土耳其最具想象力的建筑师之一
This is one of the most startling mosques in the world.
这是世界上最令人叹为观止的清真寺之一
What the architects wanted to do
建筑师想要
is to harness the power of modernism,
利用通常被看作是非常世俗运动的
which is often thought of as a very secular movement,
现代主义表现手法
to express the very essence of religious space,
来表达宗教空间的本质
stripped of all the non-essentials.
褪去一切不必要的元素
And it's certainly untraditional in all kinds of ways.
这在各种意义上都绝对颠覆了传统
But, in other ways,
但从其他方面来看
it's exploiting the traditions of Islam very heavily.
它也深入挖掘了伊斯兰教的传统
This inside space is meant to be reminiscent of the Cave of Hira,
这个内部空间是为了使人联想起希拉山洞
where the Prophet Muhammad first received
先知穆罕默德就是在那里第一次得到了
the revelation of the Word of God that became the Koran.
真主阿拉的启示 也就是后来的《古兰经》
And, of course,
当然
it also evokes one of the classic stereotypes
它也唤起了如今许多人
that many people now have of Islam,
对伊斯兰教怀有的刻板印象
that it's a religion that is in some way artless.
即这是一个在某种意义上缺乏艺术的宗教
That it prohibits not just the image of God and the Prophet,
它不仅禁止真主与先知的肖像
but the images of living creatures which only the creator, God,
还禁止只有创世主真主才能创造的
is supposed to be able to create.
生物的图像