Friday, November 9 , 20128 THE MONGOL MESSENGER

Arts Council of Mongolia, Delta Foundation Center, IV floor, Tourists Street-38, Chingeltei DistrictTel/Fax: 976-11-319015 E-mail: education@artscouncil.mn Web: www.artscouncil.mn

ARTS COUNCIL OF MONGOLIAART & CULTURE

The Mongol Messenger is operated by the government news agency MONTSAME and is printed by the MONTSAME.Home Page: www.mongolmessenger.mn;E-mail: monmessenger@magicnet.mn (ISSN 1684-1883)

Teresa Nichols

In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Arts Council of Mongolia, the ACM organized a modern dance competition with financial support from Energy Resources LLC to contribute to the development of modern music and dance in Mongolia. The Natur Dance Company was selected as the winner of the competition and awarded 20 million tugrik to produce a new modern dance performance.

On October 24th and 25th , the modern dance studio Natur Dance in partnership with the National Dance ensemble Tumen Ekh performed the “Duruu” modern dance piece on the stage of the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, written by state prize winner and popular author B. Lkhagvasuren with additional music composition and choreography. The choreographer M. Munguntsetseg has won numerous awards, including a gold prize and silver trophy in international competitions as well as three Grandprix and other leading awards nationally. Distinguished artist Munguntsetseg choreographed this modern dance piece to be different from the Mongolian folk dance style Bilgee, using modern movements to concentrate on contemporary emotional expression and create something entirely new for a wide audience.

The performance recounts a story set in the time of the Hunnu (or Xiongnu) warriors. While soldiers were out hunting,

they trampled the eggs of the cranes. Mourning their loss, the cranes vow revenge and curse the warriors. When the soldiers ride off to battle, their curse breaks the iron stirrups and all the soldiers fall to their deaths. The choreographer drew inspiration from this story to create a performance that emphasizes respect for nature. The movements were designed to emphasize the beauty of nature and appeal to the heart on the importance of honoring the source of the environment. Furthermore, “Duruu” shows that when nature is disrupted we suffer as well, an important lesson for today’s youth.

During opening night, the performance was well-attended and well-received. Twenty Mongolian dancers performed, all of whom studied and trained here in Mongolia. Though most dancers performed roles as both cranes and Hunnu, they threw themselves energetically into the two-day run of the modern ballet. The performance was composed of entirely new music, story, and choreography, but some traditional elements were visible throughout the piece. The choreographer Munguntsetseg also performed as a mother of the Hunnu warriors, using traditional Bilgee folk-dancing hand motions. The trampled crane infants were portrayed skillfully by three Mongolian contortionists, using their otherworldly motions in a fine display of Mongolia’s long-standing tradition of contortionism.

Talking with Munguntsetseg after

“Duruu”: Celebrating 10 years of Contemporary Arts and Culture

opening night, she noted that modern dance seems to connect well with Mongolian audiences because it allows performers to set themselves apart from countries like Australia, Germany, the United States, etc. and draw on Mongolian traditions to add new emotional connections. Modern dance also allows audiences to connect to current issues in a new and dynamic way. The theme of “Duruu” reflects Mongolia’s contemporary environmental struggles. Munguntsetseg emphasized the importance of reflecting on our role in protecting the

environment when Mongolia is challenged by desertification, global climate change and the impact of large-scale mining. As echoed by the performance, she ended the interview with these words of wisdom: “When the environment is healthy, relationships between people are good. When the environment is poor, our relationships with one another become poor as well.” A beautifully performed but solemn message for the audience to consider.

By Teresa Nichols

On November 8, Norman Rockwell’s America art exhibition opened at the Red Ger Gallery, located in Khaan Bank’s central office on Seoul Street. The exhibition is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Embassy, the Arts Council of Mongolia, the Norman Rockwell Museum, and Khaan Bank. The exhibition will run from November 8 to December 7. Exhibits at the Red Ger Gallery are free and open to the public, and it is open every week from Monday through Saturday between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm.

Norman Rockwell is an American artist who was active in the first half of the 20th Century. He was famous for painting magazine covers for The Saturday Evening Post, illustrating 322 covers in total. He celebrated life in America by painting

scenes of everyday events. His painting also celebrated American ideals such as freedom and equality and he did not shy away from painting scenes of controversy

when he wanted to draw public attention to important issues.

Some of his most famous paintings have been reproduced on canvas to be shown here in Mongolia. Additional events are planned related to the event, including two public lectures which will also be held in the exhibition hall of the Red Ger Gallery. There will be a discussion on November 23rd at 5:00 pm about America’s Thanksgiving holiday. On, November 27 at 5:00 pm

there will be a discussion on Norman Rockwell himself and his paintings.

For information about additional events, please see the U.S. Embassy Facebook page at www.facebook.com/USAinMongolia

By Teresa Nichols

One of the Arts Council of Mongolia’s most exciting new initiatives is the ‘Trash is not Trash’ program, run in partnership with the Children’s Creativity Center of Mongolia and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Ulaanbaatar is increasingly confronted by the challenges of urbanization and the high quantity of trash produced, and for positive, sustainable change of these conditions it is important to educate the youngest members of Mongolian society. The ‘Trash is not Trash’ program aims to connect environmental awareness education with opportunities for creative and artistic expression to contribute to the development of Mongolia’s young people. Inspired by ‘up-cycling’, the program encourages students to take materials that are considered useless and transform them into a new, better product that can be used again.

Over 300 children from disadvantaged areas in Ulaanbaatar’s school system as well as the Children’s Creativity Center are currently participating in this program. Children are organized into groups based on their schedules and supervised by artist-teachers, who show them the up-cycling process and discuss the importance of re-using materials, teach them necessary skills, and help inspire the children’s creativity. The teaching

staff is a combination of professional artists and art teachers, and the program provides them with an opportunity to expand their teaching methodologies as well. Art classes in the traditional school system often divide classes by grade and by gender, so the program provides an opportunity for all ages and all genders to explore new forms of art, learn about art’s connection to environmental and social issues, and gain new skills.

Children are encouraged to take their individual pieces home and either use it themselves or give it as a present. Some projects, however, are a group effort. One of the art projects was to create a new trash can for the city streets out of up-cycled materials. The new trash can is composed of cardboard tubes arranged in a circle, tied together with wire, and with a cardboard-reinforced base. Each child painted one of the cardboard tubes, giving them a sense of ownership in the overall design of the trash can. The effect is vibrantly colorful while still being very practical.

At the end of the program, a public exhibition will be held to display the diversity of work of the students. A television program about the project is also being planned. This public recognition of the project will raise public awareness of positive, creative, and sustainable methods to re-use materials and of the impact arts and arts education can have in confronting environmental and social concerns.

By Teresa Nichols

For the fifth continuous year, the Arts Council of Mongolia is running a short film media art project to encourage children’s creativity. The ACM believes that through the encouragement of arts education, children can develop into competitive, capable citizens of the world. Past and present media art projects run by the ACM target disadvantaged children from

Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts, encouraging student talent and then presenting these movies at schools around the city.

This project is funded by the Khan Bank Foundation and is run in partnership with the Altan Khalis (Golden Film) association. Over fifty students aged 14-18 will be participating in this year’s project and they will produce five short films. Through the training program, the students will work with art educators and film artists who will guide them through the film-making process, giving them the necessary skill-sets and the

confidence to explore their creative ideas.After the films are completed, the

five short films will be shown at several different Ulaanbaatar area schools. It is expected these films will reach between 300 and 500 other disadvantaged students and add to their understanding of contemporary art and creative capacity. The films will mostly likely be shown in the beginning of 2013.

‘Trash is not Trash’ project challenges children’s creativity

‘Norman Rockwell’ Exhibition opens at Khaan Bank

‘We Can, We are Talented!’ short film project

Natur Dance Company was the winner of the modern dance competition held at the Opera and Ballet Theater

Participants demonstrating the results of their film project

Mongolian children learning how to re-cycle trash into creative objects