'Under Blue Skies' by Jill Morgan

Under Blue Skies

Contemporary Art in Mongolia

U.B. Post has invited Jill Morgan, a visiting curator from the U.K. to talk about her impressions of the Mongolian Art scene.

For an artist, Mongolia, with its diverse and sometimes contradictory images presents a fascinating picture of a complex culture in a state of transition. The skeletons of new construction developments rise against the backdrop of the snow etched, blue tinged hills surrounding Ulaanbaatar. I have walked through streets lined with modern apartments, past Russian style buildings with a decorative Mongolian twist, glimpsed gers, wooden houses and Buddhist temples. I have watched outdoor big screens advertising fast cars and mobile phones, seen the ghost of Ghingghis Khan selling everything from vodka to pop music and I have moved slowly through the waving golden grass of the Mongolian steppes, getting close enough to see the breath of elusive wild horses. These contrasting and breath-taking images are all to be found in the work of Mongolian artists as you look around the many contemporary art galleries and in the unique collection of the Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery.

Art is always a product of the conditions of its time and place, no more so than in Mongolia, where the deep significance of traditional Mongolian art and calligraphy, the influence of Russian social realism and experimentation with western modernism co-exist. I am visiting Ulaanbaatar as curator of the exhibition Odoo (translation ‘Now’) of work by contemporary artists from the U.K. at the Genghis Art Gallery U.B. I have been able to meet and work with Mongolian artists, educators and curators and have been constantly impressed by their passion for art and for the future of art in Mongolia.

What strikes me about Mongolian art is the way that artists have tried to re-interpret a sense of history, a sense of place, a sense of identity, within changing modern frameworks. Today’s emerging artists are renewing this tradition in their research into more contemporary methods and ideas, whilst maintaining a sensitivity to the past. They deserve support and encouragement from all who can give it, within government and privately, both in Mongolia and internationally. At a time of transition and change, art has a vital role to play in society. I wish all Mongolian artists great success with their projects in the future; here under blue skies.

Jill Morgan

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

(UB Post is Mongolia is leading newspaper in English, and the essay by Jill Morgan printed on April 2007 edition)