I am fortunate to have many artistic friends in Mongolia. In this post, three visual artists from the one family speak to us about the conceptual frameworks that motivate and underpin their creativity.

The original paintings selected for this article are from a recent multi-media exhibition-installation they curated together as a family in March 2018 for the Naran Group Mall on Seoul Street in District 5 in Ulaanbaator. S.Gantsatsral had spoken to me of her vision for this exhibition when we were guests of Zava Damdin Rinpoche as artist and writer in-residence at Delgeruun Choira in the Gobi Desert during the summer of 2015. So much work! Clearly, she is true to her word.

Below is my translation into English of the artists’ own words. Here, the voices of those who are creating contemporary art in Mongolia are foregrounded. I have done my best to ensure that my translation-interpretation of their voices is correct. I apologise for any errors of judgement made in this regard.They are of my own making.

B.Enerel “Queen” 2017 (Oil on canvas) 70cm × 50cm

“As others have already pointed out, true beauty comes from within. So what, for me, is true beauty? It is that deep sense of genuine kindness, of caring for others and genuinely caring about lots of things. It is that sense of both intelligence and inner calm that is not only expressed but also experienced by those in our midst.

For me, diamonds have that external appearance of purity and clarity, along with bold and crystalline attributes of light. I am not speaking about diamonds as mere expensive material possessions. Rather, I am referring to their unblemished and precise power to refract one’s character as well as sun, fire and moon light.”

Mongolian artist B. Enerel in Ulanbaator. 3 March 2018.

 

S.Gantsatsral “World” 2017 (Oil on canvas) 230cm × 160cm (upper right)

“All things fragrant were in my mind as I designed and created this work. I wanted to express visually the relationship between our human form, our human mind, spirit, even soul if you like, and the eloquence of nature’s aesthetic; the intuitiveness and harmony ‘between.’

In essence all sentient beings are mysterious, bold and free. They ‘feel’ their world in their own colourful ways. Time passes simply without agitation when we are at peace, like our steppe’s free and wild flowers, present and in-between.”

B.Dulgoon “Theory” 2017 (Oil on canvas) 130cm × 180cm

“For me time does not exist. It is an illusion, a projection of our mind created by our biological and also cultural evolution. In this painting, I try to represent visually a sense of higher or other reality, one that could exist in another universe or dimension perhaps.”

Any music? Or musicians?

The following music was an integral element of the multimedia installation. Live performances by local Mongolian musicians were part of the official opening ceremony for the exhibition in March 2018:

• A group of invited violinists and friends from The Mongolian Philharmonic Orchestra performed “At the Khentii High Mountain” by the composer Damdinsüren Bilegiin (Mongolian: Билэгийн Дамдинсүрэн,1919-1992) famous for integrating traditional Mongolian folk melodies into operatic and other orchestral classical compositions.
• A student from The Music and Dance College of Mongolia performed Odette’s solo from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake’s Act One Scene Two.
• One of the many local UB band-combos (guitar, piano and percussion) performed “What a Wonderful World” by Bob Thiele and George Davis Weiss, first recorded by Louis Armstrong.
• A recording of Antonio Vivaldi’s (1678-1741) The Four Seasons was also played during the exhibition to reflect mother nature’s natural cycle; one for each season of the year.

“Our message for the exhibition is that we wanted to share with others our idea that art is everywhere and in everything. Even everyday mundane things can reveal secrets to those of us who are predisposed and prepared to look and listen.

Personally, I seek it from all sorts of sources; in particular anything that allows me to think about how culture/s come together.

As you can see and can hear, our paintings are inspired by Mongolia’s natural environment, its pristine wilderness, rugged mountains, rivers, grassland steppe, forests and sky.

For us it is very important for inspiration to go elsewhere, to make the considerable effort to organise oneself and one’s personal affairs to then travel: to move away and beyond the boundary of the city and out into more pastoral settings. Here, we make space for not only meditation but also for artistic expression to arise.”

All enquiries to Mongolian woman artist-in-Mongolia Sukhbaatar.Gantsatsral.

Please note: Whilst I may present the work of creative artists, in all other respects my blog is a commercial advertising-free zone. Any branding visible in the above photographic images of the exhibition has been removed. The focus here is on the artists and their art.

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© 2013-2024. CP in Mongolia. This post Out and About 10: In the Family 01 is licensed under the  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The reuse of images linked to this page are subject to original artist copyright restrictions.   Posted: 1 September 2018. Last updated: 20 June 2022.