How art transforms brokenness into beauty - Lily Yeh (re-release)

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. We are continuing to share a handful of talks, conversations, and podcast episodes from the TED archive that we hope are going to spark some inspiration in all of us as we think about the end of the year and what practices we want to bring into our lives in 2026.

您正在收听TED Talks Daily，我们每天为您带来新想法，激发您的好奇心。我是主持人 Elise Hu。随着年终临近，我们继续从TED档案中精选一些演讲、对话和播客片段，希望在我们思考年终总结以及想在2026年引入生活的实践时，能为我们所有人带来一些灵感。

Today we're sharing a talk that reminds us to find the beauty in the cracks. Artist Lily Ye calls herself a barefoot artist. She travels the world with a suitcase full of art supplies, working with whoever wants to join her. In this deeply moving talk from 2024, she shares the fruits of her collaborative art projects that bring color, community, and beauty to public spaces often seen as broken.

今天我们将分享一场演讲，它提醒我们在裂痕中发现美。艺术家 Lily Ye 称自己为赤脚艺术家。她带着装满艺术用品的行李箱周游世界，与任何想加入的人一起工作。在这场2024年感人至深的演讲中，她分享了其合作艺术项目的成果，这些项目为常被视为破碎的公共空间带来了色彩、社区和美丽。

I remember when I was young I liked to make pictures of beautiful places, but I didn't know that would become the passion of my life.

我记得年轻时喜欢画美丽地方的图画，但我不知道这会成为我一生的热情所在。

I was born in China and grew up in Taiwan. When I was seven, my family had to flee to the island because of the communist takeover of the Mainland.

我出生在中国，在台湾长大。七岁时，由于共*接管大陆，我的家人不得不逃到台湾。

And at 15, I began studying Chinese landscape painting. And through the studies, I came in contact with a very special place, which is often described as the dustless world in Chinese culture.

15岁时，我开始学习中国山水画。通过研习，我接触到了一个非常特别的地方，在中国文化中常被称为"无尘世界"。

It is a place of this world, yet it reveals the mystery of the other. It is a place of pristine beauty and poignant serenity, without the mental pollution of self-centeredness and greed and ignorance. And eventually, it's a place I call home.

它是此世的一个地方，却又揭示了他者的奥秘。它是一个拥有原始之美和深切宁静的地方，没有以自我为中心、贪婪和无知的精神污染。最终，这是我称之为家的地方。

Upon graduation from college, like many people of my generation in Taiwan, we left because of tight political control then and also the desire for further education abroad. And so I came to the States to study art and stayed ever after in the country.

大学毕业后，和当时台湾的许多同代人一样，我们离开了，既因为当时严密的政治控制，也渴望去海外深造。于是我来到美国学习艺术，并从此留在了这个国家。

Then, when I received my MFA, I had a busy and flourishing life. For some time I had a family. And I became a full professor, and I exhibited in fine galleries. And yet I felt something essential missing in my life.

后来，当我获得艺术硕士学位后，我过着忙碌而成功的生活。一度我有了家庭。我成为了一名正教授，并在优秀的画廊举办展览。然而，我感到生命中缺失了某些本质的东西。

Then I met Arthur Hall, a preeminent dancer and choreographer, and he invited me to do a project in an abandoned lot next to his headquarters in an inner city neighborhood in North Philadelphia.

后来我遇到了杰出的舞蹈家和编舞家 Arthur Hall，他邀请我在他位于北费城内城街区总部旁边的一块空地上做一个项目。

And to tell you the truth, at the beginning I was so afraid and actually I wanted to run away. What could a Chinese woman do in this neighborhood, basically overtaken by poverty, crime and violence?

说实话，一开始我非常害怕，甚至想逃跑。在这个基本上被贫困、犯罪和暴力所笼罩的社区，一个中国女人能做什么？

Then the little voice in me spoke and it says you must rise to the occasion, otherwise the light in you will die.

然后，我内心的一个微弱声音响起，它说：你必须挺身而出，否则你内在的光将会熄灭。

And so I began small at the beginning. Only children came to help. They were attracted by the spades and brooms and shovels that we set up.

于是，一开始我从小处着手。只有孩子们来帮忙。他们被我们准备的铲子、扫帚和铁锹所吸引。

And slowly, with donated materials, found materials, we began to make murals and sculptures and mosaics. And children's laughter and joy were infectious and gradually drew in adults.

慢慢地，利用捐赠的材料、捡来的材料，我们开始创作壁画、雕塑和马赛克。孩子们的笑声和快乐具有感染力，逐渐吸引了成年人。

And see, that's how we set debates to lure people in and then everybody became happy.

瞧，我们就是这样设置"诱饵"吸引人们进来，然后每个人都变得快乐起来。

Over the years, we created a series of parks and gardens, a tree farm, a performing arts program, festivals, and the rites of passage program and many more. And eventually the little summer art project evolved into a nonprofit arts organization called the Village of Arts and Humanities.

多年来，我们创建了一系列公园和花园、一个树苗场、一个表演艺术项目、节日活动、成人礼项目等等。最终，那个小小的暑期艺术项目发展成了一个名为"艺术与人文学村"的非营利艺术组织。

What was surprising to me was that what the world found broken in this community actually is a treasure land, full of resources, energy, talent and creativity.

令我惊讶的是，外界认为这个社区破碎不堪，但它实际上是一个宝地，充满了资源、能量、才华和创造力。

And through working with people, I found what was missing in my life. I knew I had to leave my tenured professorship in order to step into my life.

通过与人们合作，我找到了生命中缺失的东西。我知道我必须离开我的终身教授职位，才能步入真正属于我的生活。

And the wisdom, compassion, and the endurance of the community guided me home to the dustless world, that wonderful place of enchantment and profound beauty.

社区的智慧、同情心和忍耐力指引我回到了无尘世界，那个充满魅力和深邃之美的奇妙地方。

I ceded the village for 18 years. Then I felt the calling to bring what I have learned at the village to places in need in the world. I established another organization called the Barefoot Artists.

我领*那个"艺术村"18年。后来，我感到一种召唤，要将我在村里学到的东西带给世界上需要的地方。我建立了另一个组织，名为"赤脚艺术家"。

Then in 2004, I met Jean Bosco Musana from Rwanda in a conference in Barcelona. We began working together right away until now.

然后在2004年，我在巴塞罗那的一次会议上遇到了来自卢旺达的 Jean Bosco Musana。我们立刻开始合作，一直持续到现在。

Upon my first visit, he took me to see the genocide memorial near his city, Gisenyi, and the site looked so forsaken and forlorn I wanted to help. Then one thing led to the other.

在我第一次访问时，他带我去看了他所在城市吉塞尼附近的种族灭绝纪念馆，那个地方看起来如此荒凉和孤寂，我想提供帮助。于是一件事引出了另一件事。

First was the design, and then the children. And then adults came, and then a construction team. And then a series of mosaic workshops. And then the completion of the genocide memorial.

首先是设计，然后是孩子们。接着成年人来了，然后是一个施工队。之后是一系列马赛克工作坊。最终是种族灭绝纪念馆的完成。

And here I want to express my deep gratitude to the survivors and their families who participated in the project, despite their deep grief.

在此，我想向参与该项目的幸存者及其家人表示深深的感谢，尽管他们深陷悲痛。

And also to the China Road and Bridge Construction Company and its team, whose help was essential in converting my design into reality.

同时也感谢中国路桥工程有限责任公司及其团队，他们的帮助对于将我的设计变为现实至关重要。

Then, in the early spring of 2007, we dedicated the memorial to the people and the government for its safekeeping.

然后，在2007年初春，我们将纪念馆献给人民和政府，由其负责保管。

Then April seventh, the day of national mourning, and thousands of people walk in silence for miles to the site. Then they would line up and descend into the bone chamber. And that's where they mourn their dead.

然后是四月七日，全国哀悼日，成千上万的人默默地步行数英里来到纪念馆。他们会排起队，下到遗骨室。在那里他们哀悼逝者。

A survivor told me that our loved ones can come home now in dignity when we see beauty, we see hope.

一位幸存者告诉我，当我们看到美，我们就看到了希望，我们挚爱的亲人现在可以尊严地回家了。

I wanted to work with the migrant community in the countryside in China for some time, and in 2006 I was lucky enough to join Dandelion Middle School. Its purpose is to serve the most vulnerable children of migrant workers.

我曾有一段时间想与中国乡村的移民社区合作，2006年我很幸运地加入了蒲公英中学。其宗旨是为农民工中最弱势的儿童服务。

The school was converted from an abandoned factory and it looks basic and bare and rustic. But then it's a perfect place for me and the school community to turn dilapidation into color and abundance.

学校由一座废弃工厂改建而成，看起来简陋、空旷而质朴。但对我而言，它正是我和学校社区将破败变为色彩和丰盛的完美场所。

And through the process, we had such fun and we have learned so much.

在这个过程中，我们非常快乐，也学到了很多。

15 years later, facing demolition, the school relocated and the new place is grand and modern but cold and harsh. And so students felt estranged and unhappy. So I stepped in and created the design, reminiscent of the gentleness in the old school and together again with the students and teachers. We brought color, joy and intimacy into this new setting.

15年后，面临拆迁，学校搬迁了。新址宏伟现代，但冰冷生硬。因此学生们感到疏离和不快乐。于是我介入并设计了方案，唤起对旧校温情的回忆，再次与学生和老师们一起，将色彩、欢乐和亲密感带入了这个新环境。

During COVID I created this design, the rainbow and the tree of life for Dandelion just last fall, in a period of 59 days, and with the participation of 913 teachers, students and volunteers with our unskilled hands, but with utter dedication together we made something beyond our own expectation and something magical.

新冠疫情期间，就在去年秋天，我为蒲公英学校创作了这个设计——彩虹与生命之树，历时59天，在913名教师、学生和志愿者的参与下，用我们并不熟练的双手，但怀着全心的奉献，我们一起创造出了超乎预期、近乎神奇的东西。

And then the process when the day is finished and we become drunk with the exaltation and happiness and the process. And the process unified us into one what a deep experience.

然后，当一天的工作结束时，我们沉醉于过程的兴奋与快乐之中。这个过程将我们团结成一体，这是多么深刻的体验。

And over the years, I have come to see myself as a barefoot artist. My method is very simple. I have a bag full of art supplies and I would go to places in need and work with whoever come and join me. Together, we play and create.

这些年来，我逐渐将自己视为一名赤脚艺术家。我的方法非常简单。我有一个装满艺术用品的包，我会去需要的地方，与任何前来加入我的人一起工作。我们一起玩耍和创造。

And over the different project and experiences, I come to realize that broken places are my canvases and people's stories, the talent and the people's imagination and talent and the tools for new inventions together we envision and transform.

通过不同的项目和经历，我逐渐意识到，破碎之地是我的画布，人们的故事、才华，以及人们的想象力和才华是工具，我们共同展望和革新。

And I also come to realize a fundamental truth. People need beauty, not the superficial beauty. But the profound and transformative beauty.

我也逐渐认识到一个根本真理。人们需要美，不是肤浅的美，而是深刻且具有变革力量的美。

It is like fire in a dark winter's night. It is the beauty that our soul yearns for.

它如同黑暗冬夜中的火焰。它是我们灵魂所渴望的美。

Our world is so broken today with the violent wars, with massive extinction of species and profound, profound human suffering. And we need this vision and energy of beauty now more than ever.

我们的世界如今如此破碎，充满了残酷的战争、物种的大规模灭绝以及深沉、深沉的人类苦难。我们比以往任何时候都更需要这种美的愿景和能量。

May we rise to embrace the broken. When we act together, I know we will have the power to transform far and wide, the brokenness into beauty.

愿我们挺身而出，拥抱破碎。当我们共同行动时，我知道我们将拥有力量，将破碎广泛地转化为美丽。

That was Lily Ye at TED 2024.