Sharjah Art Biennial

　　Amber 1:  Hello, I'm Amber and you're listening to bbclearningenglish.com.

　　In Entertainment today, we visit the largest art event in the Arab world - the

　　Sharjah Art Biennial 2 in the United Arab Emirates. (A biennial is an event that

　　happens every 2 years.)

　　Artists from all over the world have come to the Emirates to create new work

　　especially for this event, and the theme this year is a big, important issue - the

　　environment. The Sharjah Art Biennial is focussing on how art can create a

　　better understanding of our relationship with nature and on the challenges the

　　world is facing due to excessive urban development and pollution. Now the

　　United Arab Emirates is one of the most rapidly developing man-made

　　environments on the planet – think of the gleaming rows of newly-built hotels

　　and skyscrapers 4 in the city of Dubai, for example. So how does an art event

　　with an ecological 5 theme fit in?

　　BBC reporter Tim Marlow went to investigate. He describes a piece of work

　　which certainly makes you think about the pollution from car exhausts! As you

　　listen, try to image what the art work looks like.

　　Tim Marlow

　　'It sounds, I'm sure, as if I'm standing 3 in a car park! But, in fact, this is an art work. It's by

　　the German-born, London-based artist, Gustav Metzger, and it was a proposal called

　　'Stockholm, June 1972' and it was never realised until now. And it involves 120 cars, each

　　with their exhaust pipes hosed up into a central construction which is right in front of me -

　　which is covered in polythene - and all the pollution, all the exhaust fumes 6 are mingling 7

　　inside. I can see a certain amount of condensation 8, I can see a certain amount of darkness, and

　　this, I suppose, is the emblematic 9 piece for the 8  Sharjah Biennial, whose themes, you'll be

　　amazed to discover, are ecology and the politics of change.'

　　Amber:  Can you picture the piece in your mind? There are 120 cars, each with their

　　exhaust pipes 'hosed up', joined together by hoses or pipes, into 'a central

　　construction', and all the pollution, all the exhaust fumes, are 'mingling' (or

　　mixing) as they collect inside.

　　Tim calls it 'the emblematic' piece for the exhibition – it's symbolic 10, it

　　suggests the themes of the whole exhibition.

　　Listen again and try to catch the two compound words Tim uses to describe the

　　artist who created the piece.

　　Tim Marlow

　　'It sounds, I'm sure, as if I'm standing in a car park! But, in fact, this is an art work. It's by

　　the German-born, London-based artist, Gustav Metzger, and it was a proposal called

　　'Stockholm, June 1972' and it was never realised until now. And it involves 120 cars, each

　　with their exhaust pipes hosed up into a central construction which is right in front of me -

　　which is covered in polythene - and all the pollution, all the exhaust fumes are mingling

　　inside. I can see a certain amount of condensation, I can see a certain amount of darkness, and

　　this, I suppose, is the emblematic piece for the 8  Sharjah Biennial, whose themes, you'll be

　　amazed to discover, are ecology and the politics of change.'

　　Amber:  Tim describes Gustav Metzger as a 'German-born, London-based' artist.

　　Next, Tim met the director of the Sharjah Biennial and asked him why he

　　thinks artists are willing to create work on themes like the environment and

　　the politics of change.

　　As you listen, try to catch the adjective we hear to describe the crucially

　　important 'issues' facing societies and 'the world in general'.

　　Director of Sharjah Biennial

　　'Artists are intellectuals and they have their role in society. Their role is to be at the forefront

　　of the pressing issues of the societies that they live in, or the world in general. And they have

　　to kind of participate, or in this situation, initiate 11 the discussion.'

　　Amber:  Did you catch it? We heard that the role or work of artists is to be at the

　　forefront (the very front) of the 'pressing' issues of the societies in which they

　　live. They should 'initiate' (begin) discussion.

　　Now here's a list of the language we focussed on in the programme today.

　　biennial, the Sharjah Art Biennial

　　hosed up

　　mingling

　　emblematic

　　German-born

　　London-based

　　pressing issues