Two stories seeem to sit at the heart of it all. The first is technology: the explosion in self-expression that we have witnessed has only been made possible by the boom in ways of transmitting thoughts, images, feelings, ideas - the cornerstones of culture. Computer software and the internet have democratised creatively: everyone's an artist now.

看來有兩件事是這一切的核心。第一，是技術(shù)：它使得思想、圖像、感覺和想法能夠被轉(zhuǎn)化為現(xiàn)實、使得自我表達(dá)的爆炸成為可能——而這一切，就是文化的奠基石。電腦軟件和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)賦予創(chuàng)造力以民主：現(xiàn)在人人都是藝術(shù)家了。

But, more than that, everyone's a critic. This was the decade of the whirlwind recommendation, when a song or an image, a film clip or a piece of writing could be shared instantly and praised or attacked by anyone - right here, right now.

但更重要的是每個人都是評論者。這是一個瘋狂推薦的十年。一首歌、一張圖、一段電影剪輯或是一段文字都可以被立刻分享、被贊頌或攻擊，人人都可以做到、就在此時、此刻。

At the opposite end of the scale from this intangible digital world sit the other dominant figures of the decade: buildings. The rise of the big culture shrine has been as remarkable as the numbers who have turned up to look inside.

而這個難以描述的數(shù)字世界的另一端，同時也定義著這個時代的另一特征：創(chuàng)造。偉大文化的神龕被樹立，于此同時，小型的文化事件同樣值得關(guān)注。

Let us not forget Kylie Minogue's bottom, however. Or the first tweet sent by Stephen Fry. For at the same time as the serious play has flourished in the West End, this has also been a decade of froth and celebrity, one in which, at times, the whole world seemed to go pop.

請不要忘記凱莉米洛的完美臀部曲線，還有英國傳奇演員Stephen Fry在Twitter上的第一條微博。當(dāng)正統(tǒng)的高雅話劇在倫敦西區(qū)（滬江小編注：倫敦富人區(qū)）上演，八卦和明星也同時存在。就讓全世界一起high吧。


2000 May: Tate Modern open

2000年5月：泰特現(xiàn)代博物館開館

When the Queen opened Tate Modern on May 11, London acquired its most important new museum since Edward VII opened the Tate Gallery at Millbank more than 100 years before. In transforming Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s Bankside Power Station into a pristine space for contemporary art, Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron lit a match that kindled a British love affair with modern art. The love affair turned obsessional and 10 years later, every single major museum in London had devoted at least one show to contemporary art.

當(dāng)女王在5月11日為泰特現(xiàn)代博物館剪彩開幕，倫敦就迎來了它自愛德華七世在100年前揭幕泰特藝術(shù)館以來最為重要的博物館。泰特現(xiàn)代由一座舊電站改建，重新賦予它生命的瑞典建筑師Herzog和de Meuron借此點燃了英國民眾對現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)的熱情。接下來這十年來，每一間倫敦博物館都至少舉辦過一次當(dāng)代藝術(shù)展。

2000 June: Kylie Minogue steps out in her hot pants

2000年6月：凱莉米洛重回舞臺

Flaunted in the video for Spinning Around, the Aussie’s perfect buttocks become the pop symbol of the new millennium, in what already seems like a more innocent era.

凱莉米洛在經(jīng)歷過和乳腺癌的堅強斗爭后，依舊作為性感女神重返舞臺。這一次，粉絲們不僅僅迷戀她的曼妙身材，更愛上了她的靈魂。

2001 March: Destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan

2001年三月：巴米揚大佛被塔利班政權(quán)毀壞


Historic Afghan cliff carvings are blown up after the Taliban deems them idolatrous.

這個政府也算絕了，人家都忙不迭在保護自己國家的歷史遺產(chǎn)。他們倒好，直接自己炸掉。該組織領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人奧瑪爾解釋毀壞佛像的原因是伊斯蘭教義相信，所有神像，包括那些遠(yuǎn)古時代的佛像，都是對伊斯蘭教的侮辱。而評論家普遍認(rèn)為此舉旨在喚起國際社會對塔利班政權(quán)的關(guān)注，因為國際社會對塔利班政府的孤立讓他們感到絕望。