All the big cities have one, new ones are popping up constantly, and the lines to get into blockbuster shows can snake around the block.

所有大城市都有這樣的劇院，新劇院不斷湧現，觀看大片的隊伍可以排到街區的盡頭。

But despite the buzz, museums are arguably not doing as much for us as they might.

但是，儘管如此熱鬧，博物館為我們所做的卻並沒有想象中那麼多。

Their whole purpose and function in modern society has been left oddly rather unexplored. Many of us show up at these museums more out of guilt than genuine pleasure.

這些博物館在現代社會中的整個目的和功能都被奇怪地忽略了。我們中的許多人参觀這些博物館更多的是出於負罪感，而不是真正的樂趣。

The prestige of art, as opposed to any spontaneous enthusiasm, is what seems to keep a sizable share of people coming through the doors.

藝術的聲望，而不是自發的熱情，似乎是吸引相當一部分人進門的原因。

And a lot of the more recent art on display can be deeply puzzling to behold, even if we don't generally reveal our confusion for fear of seeming foolish. At the heart of the problem of the art museum is an institutional inability to define in simple terms what art might actually be for and quite why it should matter so much.

很多新近展出的藝術品都會讓人深感困惑，即使我們一般不會把自己的困惑說出來，因為害怕顯得愚蠢。藝術博物館問題的核心在於，機構無法用簡單的語言定義藝術的真正目的，以及藝術為何如此重要。

We may be heartily convinced of art's importance, but we have a devilishly hard time pinning the significance down. Here is a suggestion.

我們也許由衷地相信藝術的重要性，但我們卻很難確定藝術的意義。這裡有一個建議。

The purpose of art is therapeutic.

藝術的目的是治療。

Art is there to lend inspiration and consolation in relation to a number of the challenges of being human.

面對人類所面臨的諸多挑戰，藝術可以給人以啟迪和安慰。

Art helps us to cope with, among other things, our inability to focus on what's beautiful and precious in life, our tendency to caricature others and forget about their sufferings, our inclination to lose hold of our inherent creativity and playfulness, our frustrated longings to create better societies, and our need for stillness, perspective, and solemnity in an angry, chaotic world. Even though it may be fashionable to say otherwise, art is definitely not there just for art's sake.

藝術幫助我們應對各種問題，其中包括：我們無法專注於生活中美好而珍貴的事物；我們傾向於漫畫化他人而忘記他們的苦難；我們傾向於失去固有的創造力和遊戲性；我們沮喪地渴望創造更好的社會；以及我們在一個憤怒、混亂的世界中對靜止、透視和莊嚴的需求。儘管時髦的說法是，藝術絕對不是為了藝術而藝術。

It is a tool to help us to live and die well.

它是一種工具，可以幫助我們生得好，也死得好。

It opens our eyes.

它讓我們大開眼界。

It returns us to a sense of creativity.

它讓我們重拾創造力。

It connects us with strangers.

它將我們與陌生人聯繫在一起。

It shakes us from political complacency.

它讓我們從政治上的自滿情緒中清醒過來。

It stills our agitated hearts.

它讓我們躁動的心安靜下來。

Art has a healing function.

藝術具有治療功能。

This gives us all we need to define what an art museum should be: an institution that displays and arranges art in ways that can best heal its audiences. Such a stark and deliberately vulgar definition has revolutionary implications.

這就為我們提供了美術館應有的定義：一個以最能治癒觀眾的方式展示和安排藝術品的機構。這樣一個鮮明而刻意粗俗的定義具有革命性的意義。

Currently, most art museums are laid out chronologically, as if the most important thing about works of art was when they were made.

目前，大多數藝術博物館都是按時間順序排列的，似乎藝術作品最重要的是何時問世。

But with a better focus on the function of art, works could now be rearranged according to the distinctive troubles of the soul they can help us with.

但是，隨著人們更加關注藝術的功能，現在可以根據作品能夠幫助我們解決的獨特的心靈問題來重新排列作品。

There could be a gallery devoted to addressing the agonies of love, another focused on helping us cope with anxiety, a third devoted to issues of envy, a fourth to aging, and so on. Entire museums might bite off one part of a therapeutic emotional curriculum.

可能會有一個展廳專門討論愛情的痛苦，另一個展廳側重於幫助我們應對焦慮，第三個展廳專門討論嫉妒問題，第四個展廳討論衰老問題，等等。整個博物館都可以是情感治療課程的一部分。

There might be a museum for calm that would collect a range of works that help to usher in this prized mood from across all centuries and media.

或許可以建立一個冷靜博物館，收集各個世紀、各種媒體上有助於營造這種珍貴氛圍的各種作品。

There could be a museum for creativity, a museum for friendship, and so on.

可以建立創意博物館、友誼博物館等等。

Some might be very big, others quite small.

有些可能很大，有些可能很小。

They might exist online or in a narrow space between a pub and a kebab shop. You often hear it said that museums of art are our new cathedrals.

它們可能存在於網上，也可能存在於酒吧和烤肉店之間的狹小空間。人們常說，藝術博物館是我們的新大教堂。

In other words, that art can heal us as religions once did.

換句話說，藝術可以像宗教一樣治癒我們。

It's an intriguing and vital idea but one which art museums, sadly, haven't actually taken up.

這是一個引人入勝、至關重要的想法，但遺憾的是，藝術博物館並未真正採納這一想法。

Because while they expose us to objects of genuine importance, they seem unable to curate them in ways that link them powerfully to our inner needs.

因為他們雖然讓我們接觸到了真正重要的物品，卻似乎無法將這些物品與我們的內在需求緊密聯繫起來。

Our new cathedrals are underperforming.

我們新建的大教堂表現不佳。

We should give up on the idea of the art museum as some kind of dead storage space for the history of the subject, or a whitewashed cavern that stays intimidatingly silent as to its real purpose. The art museum deserves to be reborn as a kind of superior chemist or drugstore that vividly signposts art and culture and uses it to bring inspiration, solace, and meaning to our confused, anxious, and troubled societies. [www.artistrenjitha.com]

我們應該放棄這樣的想法，即把藝術博物館視為某種死氣沉沉的歷史存儲空間，或者是一個粉飾太平的洞穴，對其真正目的保持令人生畏的沉默。藝術博物館理應重生，成為一種高級藥劑師或藥店，生動地標明藝術和文化，並用它為我們這個困惑、焦慮和動盪的社會帶來靈感、慰藉和意義。[www.artistrenjitha.com]