"Pop-up" Tearooms Defy the Downturn 新茶馆填补空白
By Catrin Nye
语音：英式发音 适合泛听
语速：140词/分钟
关键词：tearoom,art,funding
It's not easy running a business at the moment. Some here last no more than a couple of months before the 1)shutters come down. In one of those empty spaces now, though, just next to the nail bar and the news agent's, is a rather 2)conspicuous tea shop. Overnight it's become a hub, the diverse community of Hansworth.
Samina Zahir (Founder of Hybrid Arts): We tried to think about things that everybody shared that connected everybody, and there wasn't a cultural group that we could think of or a community that we thought was based in Birmingham that didn't drink tea.
Fifty thousand pounds was provided to Birmingham City Council by the Department for Communities and Local Government to encourage arts organizations to fill these gaps. It's been used to fund five “pop-up” tea shops in total. According to the local data company, more that 14% of shops across the UK are now empty.
Now, the tea and cake here is free, and so, of course, some people come just for that, but the hope is that, while they're here, they talk to someone they don't know and perhaps get involved in some of the art.
There are craft activities to keep children and grown-ups occupied.
Woman A: We thought we'd be seeing these places around nowhere where you can come in and sit down and socialize with people; just talk, have a chat.
The money for these arts projects was 3)allocated under the previous Labour Government. The 4)Coalition has since unringfenced the funding for local authorities so they can give funds where they see fit. 5)Critics say “pop-ups” are a temporary solution to a wider problem. This place will close in a few weeks. Organizers, though, hope they might inspire someone to open a permanent tea room here.
眼下做生意可不是件容易的事。这里的一些店铺只维持不到两个月时间就关门倒闭了。但是，在这些空荡荡的铺位中间，毗邻这家美甲店和报摊的是一间相当扎眼的茶馆。一夜之间，这家茶馆成了英国汉慈沃思这个种族多元化社区的中心。
萨米纳·扎赫尔（“混搭艺术”组织创始人）：我们当时在想，能将每个人联系在一起的、人与人之间的共性都有哪些呢？后来我们发现，在伯明翰，没有哪个我们所能想到的种族群体是不喝茶的。
社区与地方政府部门给伯明翰市议会拨款五万英镑，以鼓励艺术团体填补这方面的空白。拨款已用于资助五家临时茶馆。当地数据公司的统计显示，目前全英范围内超过14%的店铺是空置的。
目前，这里的茶水和糕点是免费的，当然也有人是专门冲着这个来的。当局希望他们来到这里，能有机会和陌生人聊聊天，或者参与一些艺术活动。
这里有供儿童和大人消遣的手工活动。
女子甲：我们从来没见过类似场所，你可以进来坐下，和大家聊聊天，只是单纯的聊聊天，天南地北地攀谈一下。
这些用于艺术项目的拨款之前由执政的工党政府负责分配。联合政府上台以后把这些资金的使用下放到地方政府，以便把资金用到最适合的地方。有批评人士称，在纷繁复杂的困局之中，临时茶馆只是权宜之计。茶馆几周以后就会关闭，然而组织者希望人们能从中得到启发，从而在这里开设永久性茶馆。
