Strategies For Translating Art Exhibition Catalogues

Nowadays,the Chinese public are more and more enthusiastic about art galleries and exhibitions.As most of the audience use brochures to help better appreciate the undertone of exhibitions and artistic value of exhibits,the quality of the Chinese version of brochures for pieces by international artists is crucial to the audience's artistic appreciation.Based on a case study of the author's experience in translating English brochures of 4th TRIPLE PARADE Biennale for Contemporary Jewellery,this paper firstly provides the background to the translation project in question,and reviews the textual functions of art exhibition brochures.Secondly,the author summarizes the difficulties encountered in the translation process: abstract texts,the need for retaining artistic aesthetics,large amounts of terms and implications.Then,the author proposes accordingly four general translation strategies: searching online for images of the exhibits to facilitate understanding;using rhetorical devices,including four-character Chinese idioms,metaphors,exaggeration and puns;determining the exact meaning according to the contexts;and seeking functional equivalence.The author hopes that the discussion in the paper will provide some useful ideas for other translators working on similar texts,and for future studies on this topic.