Tsendpurev Tsegmid

My Winter Break in Mongolia: ‘The Brave Ones’

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:00:57 +0000

My winter break in Mongolia was fast-paced, thrilling, eye-opening and humbling at times. You might wonder why did I go to Mongolia during winter. Obviously, I could have easily stayed in Leeds and waited for a spring to come. No, I needed to feel the freezing temperature of the Mongolian winter yet again, after a long period of not experiencing it. I was so used to the mild weather of the British Isles, starting to forget the real winter of my native country. It was a revelation! Upon arrival in Ulaanbaatar, I swallowed a bucket of a cold air and thought my throat went numb because of it. Subsequently, I had so much pain in my thigh muscles due to the low temperature. If I wasn’t escorted into the car, I would’ve frozen right there. Afterwards, I learned that the temperature was around – 35 C. “Of course, it must have been that cold…”, I gushed, trying to justify my reaction. My parents comforted me by saying “You are going to be fine. You just need a couple of days to adjust”. They were right. It took me couple of days to acclimatise to the weather. By day three, I was out and about, just like the old days.

Near Bayanbuural Resort, Tuv Province, Mongolia. December 2011. Photograph by T. Tsegmid

I always loved everything about winter from my early childhood as it made me feel refreshed and energised. While I am walking within the city, I would stop and look around. Despite the freezing temperatures, people were living their lives as normal. It is just another winter for them. For me, it was the first proper winter for years. Writing about Mongolia objectively is near impossible task. I always try to keep the balance but I could list many reasons why I can not be purely objective when it comes to about my native country. I suppose, the years I spent away from the country gave me a different perspective on Mongolia. But the years didn’t do anything to diminish the attachment I have with the country. Now, I feel more Mongolian than I felt 10 years ago. Probably, I know more about Mongolia than I knew at 20. However, this might not have happened, if I wasn’t away this long.

What comes to your mind when you think of Mongolia? The endless steppe, the nomadic lifestyle, the round dwelling called ‘ger’ and the history of Chingghis Khaan? These are USPs (Unique Selling Point), mainly geared towards tourism and marketing but they are not necessarily so useful for people who want to know about the real Mongolia. The real Mongolia is not one thing. It is many things. The real Mongolia starts from Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the country, a home to over a million residents and a fascinating cosmopolitan metropolis located at the heart of Central Asia. Ulaanbaatar is enormous in size as well. Most visitors tend to stay couple of days in Ulaanbaatar and head for the countryside as it is in the end what was promised on the brochure. Except a few adventurous back-packers, not many visitors venture outside the city centre, probably concerned about unexpected things to happen or just not interested. This unintentional exclusion continues on and it is having a detrimental effect on the understanding of the country to the wider world. I think, I better continue this thread in my future posts.

Outside the National Weather Office in Ulaanbaatar. December 2011. Photograph by T. Tsegmid

Back to my winter break. It was a real joy to be in Mongolia. Of course, it was very cold and the capital air pollution was at times unbearable. Who enjoys inhaling the polluted air produced from domestic coal use, electricity factories and cars? But then, how these thousands of families who don’t live in apartments supposed to cope with the cold winter starts in late October and continues on well into March? They need to use coal to keep warm and the alternative fuel recommended by the Government is hard to find and expensive for low-income families. On a daily basis, they need to balance between keeping it warm and having something to eat. Despite all these constant difficulties, I saw people living their lives, going to work, studying and keeping their ambitions alive. It was an eye-opener. Suddenly, my so-called minor problems are nothing compared to what these people need to go through every day. I call them ‘The Brave Ones’!

‘The Brave Ones’ don’t wait for a help from others; instead, they help themselves. ‘The Brave Ones’ have one thing in common; they are defiant in the face of difficulties. I think that the world is a better place because of these people who decided not to give up and continue to believe in themselves.

For anyone, who is interested in finding out the real Mongolia, you need to go there. Especially, you need to go there during autumn, winter and spring. You need to travel beyond the modern city centre of Ulaanbaatar and see how ‘The Brave Ones’ live and breathe. And there are other large cities besides the capital: Darkhan, Erdenet and many more urban centres.

T. Tsegmid

Leeds, UK

‘Bare House’ has found its colour – a dark green!

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:30:23 +0000

I am happy to announce the publication of ‘Bare House: Pori – Rotterdam – Ulaanbaatar’ (2011) which I translated from English to Mongolian. ‘Bare House: Pori – Rotterdam – Ulaanbaatar’ [1] was a large scale and multi-layered international art project consisted of numerous exhibitions, residencies spanned over two years, showcased works of artists, curators and architects from Finland, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Mongolia. The publication is edited by Annu Wilenius, Visual artist, Curator and Doctoral Candidate from Finland who also curated the art project. The project has finalised in two-part (1st -7th August and 3d-11th October 2011) exhibition at the Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia accompanied by the publication.

I admit that the Mongolian translation was an enormous challenge in terms of its complexity and the length (nearly 20.000 words). Many terms and phrases specific to contemporary art field had been translated into Mongolian for the first time. It took me nearly a year to finish the translation. To my current knowledge, the publication is only the third publication published both in English and Mongolian in the field of contemporary art.

The first publication both in English and Mongolian was a catalogue of a group exhibition titled ‘For You Mongolia’/'Монголд Зориулая’ [2] (translated by Udval Sukhbaatar & Joakim Enwall, 2002) presented works of nine artists from Sweden shown at the Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The second publication was another catalogue of an exhibition project titled ‘Odoo/Current’ [3] (2006-2007, exhibition dates: 10th-30th April 2007) showcased works of twelve artists based in the UK at the Chingghis Art Gallery in Ulaanbaatar. I worked as the project manager, the translator and the co-coordinator along with fellow research student Juliet MacDonald. The exhibition catalogue[4] was published in English and Mongolian with an introductory text by Curator Jill Morgan and translated by me.

Finally, I would like to thank Annu Wilenius for giving the opportunity to translate this wonderful publication and being incredibly patient with me while I was juggling to cope with numerous other ongoing projects.

Please see below for more detailed information about the publication. It is available for purchase from here.

Bare House is an exhibition exchange, a publication and an artist-in-residence project; an intensive, focussed experiment in the sharing of contemporary experience about dwelling and existence, a project which holds up a mirror to the architecture and urbanism of today and tomorrow.

Mongolia and the city of Ulaanbaatar – where pastoral nomadism and Soviet city planning are being eroded by chaotic ger districts and staggering tower-blocks – function as reference points in the project, along with the post-industrial cities of Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Pori in Finland.

Artists and Architects:
Chris van Mulligen, Christine Saalfeld, Sonia Leimer, Christian Mayer, Sedbazar Ganzug, Oula Salokannel, Aletta de Jong, Dugarsuren Batzorig, Ana Rewakowicz, Togmidshiirev Enkhbold, Gregory Cowan, Clare Hill, Katrin Hornek, Michael Fürst, Yondonjunain Dalkh-Ochir, Ser-Od-Dolgor, Annu Wilenius

Essays:
Saara Hacklin, Uranchimeg Tsultem, Taina Rajanti, Annu Wilenius

Edited by Annu Wilenius

Hardcover, 200 pages +DVD
Aalto University publication series
ART+DESIGN+ARCHITECTURE 4/2011
ISSN 1799-4853
Pori Art Museum Publications 105
ISBN 978-952-5648-24-9
ISSN 0359-4327
Publisher: Pori Art Museum, 2011
Languages: English, Mongolian
Translations: Tsendpurev Tsegmid, Uranchimeg Tsultem’s essay by herself
Graphic design: Petri Nuutinen

[1] More information about the project available from: <http://www.annuwilenius.com/BHP/bhp_01.html>

[2] I have a hard copy of the catalogue. It has no ISBN and was a limited edition handed out at the opening of the exhibition.

[3] More information about the project available from: <http://www.odoocurrent2007.blogspot.com/>

[4] Odoo/Current : an exhibition of work by 12 UK based artists : Genghis Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 10-30 April 2007 Available from: <http://www.worldcat.org/title/odoocurrent-an-exhibition-of-work-by-12-uk-based-artists-genghis-art-gallery-ulaanbaatar-mongolia-10-30-april-2007/oclc/185123887&referer=brief_results>

Mongolia is calling!

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:20:57 +0000

In less than two weeks time, I will be in Mongolia. I waited over three years to say this sentence. It is just unbelievable how fast the time passes by you. Mongolia is calling for me!

For many people – Mongolia is a country of grasslands, galloping horses and free-moving nomads. However, there are many other sides to this fascinating and complex nation. For a long time, the romantic perception of Mongolia has been feeding the imagination of many who sought to explore the unknown and dreamt of a unique place. Now, Mongolia is at the brink of the biggest change in its history. This change could decide everything.

Of course, I miss the grasslands, the horses and the nomads. Equally, I miss Ulaanbaatar, the city I was born in and spent my young adulthood. I can’t wait to go to the places I used to play as a teenager, meet my old friends and celebrate the new year with my family.

I am so happy! I haven’t been this happy for a long time. I am hoping to come back to the UK, energised and full of enthusiasm.

Tsendpurev Tsegmid

30th November 2011

‘Important’ Objects vs ‘Unimportant’ Objects

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:23:22 +0000

Last Thursday, I visited the Manchester Museum again to look at the Living Cultures and the Archery Collections in details. Stephen T. Welsh, The Curator of the Living Cultures kindly showed me the Museum stores. If I was interested in the term ‘living cultures’ in a context of a museum settings in the beginning (See Preservation of Living Cultures & Mongolian bows at the Manchester Museum), now I am fascinated by the methodologies of categorisation and cataloguing of these thousands of objects. How one decides which object is more important than others? What happens to those objects considered ‘unimportant’? Isn’t it every object is authentic and original in its own way regardless of how old, how precious and what it represents? Let’s take an example and compare two non-museum objects!

Fig. 1 Objects II, 2010. T.Tsegmid.

Fig. 2 Objects II, 2010. T. Tsegmid

In Fig. 1, you are looking at a pair of women’s black shoes, around 7 years old. In Fig. 2, you are seeing a pair of slippers made in Pakistan. Both pair of shoes mean a lot to me personally because of what they remind me of. However, these kind of sentimental or subjective factors don’t play a major role in categorising ‘important’ objects from ‘unimportant’ objects. The removal of the personal attachments from these objects makes them simply ‘unimportant’ and ‘uninteresting’ objects to any museum or similar settings where the important objects or the precious objects supposed to be kept and preserved for the future generations. Actually, I know for a fact that these two pair of shoes will never become museum objects unless I create a museum for them. Let’s try to describe these pairs of shoes for an argument sake if they fit for a museum! The first pair of shoes was bought from a retail shop in Leeds, UK, as I needed to wear flat and black shoes for working as a waitress. The actual experience is something I don’t like to remember but this pair was the most comfortable shoes I ever worn. This pair is a mass produced, cheap and made of leather-like material in a developing country. I keep them because they often remind me of the challenges life can throw at you unexpectedly and the possibility of ‘overcoming’ those challenges. Therefore, this pair means more to me than any other ‘precious’ object. The second pair is a hand-made and leather slippers made in Pakistan and given to me as a gift. I never wore them, I admit there were slightly uncomfortable but I kept them anyway because someone traveled from Pakistan to the UK and brought these for me. As you can see from Fig. 2, someone had spent considerable amount of time to decorate them with sequens and beeds. These pairs are both important to me. I can’t say, which is more or less important. Therefore, these pairs do not fit or even come close to be categorised as museum-worthy objects based on these ‘unimportant’ factors and lack of ‘historical significance’ to the establishments.

While showing the museum stores, Welsh posed many questions about those thousands of objects, their use, preservation and inevitable future of possible disposal if the Museum runs out of space or needed to make space for new objects. Obviously, it is practically impossible to have all of those objects to be on display for a public consumption. I need to go back to the original question. How one decides which object is more important than others? I am interested in the selection process and related methodologies of curatorial practices. For example, the objects in the armouries store were very interesting to me. Once survival tools used in hunting, killing, cutting, carving were placed next to each other in their hundreds. They looked misplaced somehow. Stripped down from their intended use, without a drop of a blood stain in sight, they appeared not much different from kitchen knives we use. However, “…it is hard not to think about the possibility that some of these objects injured or ended someone’s life.”, Welsh said.

Fig. 3, 4 and 5. Objects in the armouries store of the Manchester Museum, 2011. Photos by T. Tsegmid.

What I am interested is, to challenge the conventional methodologies of categorising and classifying objects as more ‘important’ than others. I am interested in those ‘obscure’ objects, which are unlikely to be classified as ‘important’ enough to be placed on a public display or never been on public display and kept in stores.

This discussion to be continued…

Tsendpurev Tsegmid

Islington Mill in Salford: The Utopian ‘Factory’ of Creative Energies

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:03:10 +0000

Islington Mill Studios, Oct 2011. Photograph by T. Tsegmid

First I heard about Islington Mill from Paulette Brien and Laurence Lane, Curators and Directors of The International 3 Gallery. According to them, Islington Mill is this amazing creative space for artists, curators and musicians. They were right. As part of the Asia Triennial II, a Mongolian artist Enkhbold Togmidshiirev was invited to come to Manchester and take a residency at Islington Mill’s B&B for 2 weeks while he participated the city-wide visual arts events organised by collaborating galleries, curators and establishments. I also had the pleasure to stay at Islington Mill for couple of days and got to know its founders and permanent residents, Bill Campbell and Maurice Carlin.

Artist Enkhbold Togmidshiirev building his site-specific installation My Home at Islington Mill front of Islington Mill B&B, Oct 2011. Photograph by T. Tsegmid

From afar, Islington Mill looks deceptively ordinary and no one would notice that there is a creative hot-house inside this gloomy looking building. This perception will be cemented even further, when you face a huge steel door asking for entry codes. All these assumptions will disappear as quickly as they formed when you first step into the Islington Mill entrance hall. Walls plastered with posters of exhibitions, music performances and other arts related events will welcome you.

Personally, I felt re-charged by Islington Mill’s constant flow of creative energies. There is always something going on. People I met were friendly, willing to take their time to discuss about arts and related topics. It was as if the life outside the building doesn’t matter so much. For me, it was the perfect getaway. I closed my eyes and pictured myself as one of the workers of the old Cotton Spinning Mill. Unlike the long hours and harsh conditions the mill workers were subjected to in the past, its present day occupiers and visitors alike enjoy spending time at the mill and contribute to keep the place alive. I for one, would like to be the worker at this Utopian ‘Factory’ of Creative Energies…along with many other creative individuals the mill continues to attract.

Inside Islington Mill B&B, Oct, 2011. Photographs T.Tsegmid

T.Tsegmid, Paulette Brien, Laura Mansfield & Laurance Lane at Islington Mill, Oct, 2011.

Photograph by E. Togmidshiirev

Preservation of ‘Living Cultures’ & Mongolian bows at the Manchester Museum

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:13:30 +0000

Last week, I visited Manchester Museum’s Archery collection along with Enkhbold Togmidshiirev (Artist), Paulette Brien (Curator and Director of International3 Gallery) guided by Stephen Terence Welsh, Curator of Living Cultures and Anna Bunney, Curator of Public Programmes.

Wendy Hodkinson, Honorary Curator of Archery kindly agreed to welcome us and show the selection of bows and arrows originated from Mongolia. The Archery Collection of the Manchester Museum consists of some 4000 objects including bows and arrows from all over the world. This vast collection is preserved and kept inside specially made stacks. It was such a great experience to be able to see and touch those Mongolian bows and arrows. Although, they are old, dating back to 17 Century, they had been preserved very well by the Museum. http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/collection/archery/

T. Tsegmid and Wendy Hodkinson. Photograph by Paulette Brien, Sep 2011

The phrase ‘living cultures’ is an interesting one. It not only refers to present but has many similarities to current contemporary art practice and what it tries to achieve by exploring ‘the now’, what surrounds us and what makes us who we are. Is it possible to preserve ‘living cultures’? How does a museum setting supports this cause? What does preserving those objects of necessities, rituals, cultures means to public? These questions have been raised during our discussion with Stephen T. Welsh, Curator of Living Cultures and the potential change in how Museums see their existing roles as guardians of selected objects. Please check out Stephen’s post about this visit. For example, the bows and arrows from Mongolia looked old, authentic and perfect museum objects but its versions are still used in Mongolia. Surely, people may not hunt using bows and arrows nowadays but the archery is one of the three manly national games of Mongolia and we have professional archers competing at regional and national levels.

As an art student back in Mongolia, I painted hundreds of horsemen drawing bows and arrows, hunting for animals or battling each other. Then, I painted archers because I was expected to portray the life of 13 Century Mongolia using Mongolian traditional painting Mongol Zurag. I always questioned why I have to portray lives of Mongols existed some 800 years ago? There is very little fact about their actual lives except limited historical manuscripts, paintings and drawings which students used to study and pass the photocopies of them to each other. Mostly, we used to go by a book (in Mongolian Cyrillic), which was a transcription of an old manuscript titled The Secret History of Mongols (mong. Монголын Нууц Товчоо).

I haven’t painted for a long time but maybe it is time for me to go back to painting. Maybe this visit to the Museum was a sign? Personally, I was just very surprised to find such a big collection of original bows and arrows at the Manchester Museum. If I am going to depict those objects in a contemporary painting, I would want to put emphasis on ‘living cultures’ aspect of those Mongolian arrows and bows.

Wendy Hodkinson, Enkhbold Togmidshiirev, Tsendpurev Tsegmid and Stephen T. Welsh. Photograph by Paulette Brien, Sep 2011.

Lastly, I would like to thank Paulette Brien, Anna Bunney, Stephen T. Welsh and Wendy Hodkinson for their kind support and welcome.

Tsendpurev Tsegmid

Artist, Curator, Doctoral Candidate

Leeds Metropolitan University

I am back!

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 16:10:41 +0000

I’ve been ‘in hiding’ ‘for the last year in order to concentrate on my PhD completion. Now I am back! I will be more visible from now on. Many more exciting projects are on the way and I will post more information about them shortly.

By the way, I will be attending Asia Triennial: Manchester II. For more info check out: www.asiatriennialmanchester.com

Happy to be back!

Tsendpurev

My mum Bayarsanaa looking at the North Sea, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Photograph by Tsendpurev Tsegmid, 2011

PRAY FOR JAPAN!

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:17:30 +0000

Pray for Japan!

by Munkh-Erdene Lkhagva (‘Graphyme’ Graphic Design Studio, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)

It has been a long time since I posted on my blog…been too busy. I came across this poster on Facebook . The poster is an excellent work by a talented Mongolian graphic designer Munkh-Erdene Lkhagva.

When a disaster of this scale happens to thousands of unsuspecting people, it is very hard to find anything appropriate to say. The earth has shaken, the angry sea has swallowed cities and thousands have lost their lives. Now the sun is bleeding from sadness and disbelief.

Please Pray for Japan! I am not religious, far from it. But I am praying for Japan, Japanese people and all other nationalities who have been affected by this series of unpredictable and unwinnable forces of nature.

Tsendpurev Tsegmid

15th March 2011

If you need to find out more about the creator of this poster, check out following links:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Graphyme/124204770979916

http://graphyme.blogspot.com/

The Border Guard in Scarborough

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:49:28 +0000

The Border Guard in Scarborough, a site-specific installation and video piece, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, Sept 2010

Watch the video piece by clicking here.

Last Sunday afternoon, I’ve left him in Scarborough. He didn’t say anything. I think he knew what was going on. But I am not hundred percent sure. I’ve felt this incredible sadness piercing through my heart as I walk away from him . I’ve kept walking, walking and got on a train with a Dutch man. I wanted to look back but couldn’t. I knew if I’d looked back at him, I couldn’t have kept walking. And then everything I planned for wouldn’t have happened. It has been three years since I’ve met him. For three years, he was on my mind. I had to do something about him. It has been too long. The overwhelming degree of indecisiveness eroded me since I’ve met him. He was always precious to me from the very beginning. Do you know a feeling that you have met someone so unique but don’t know how to act towards that person?

I’ve left him alone in the sands of one of the beaches in Scarborough. It was a sunny but windy day. If the wind had stopped there for an hour, it could have been labelled as the perfect day in my life. But it didn’t stop. Actually, it didn’t stop at all. He kept looking to the sea. It must’ve been fascinating for him to see a sea for the first time. He liked it very much. However, I didn’t see him stepping into the water. He has kept himself at the edge of the sea.

I don’t know his name. He never told me. And I can’t even tell you where we have met because of the agreement I have with his Senior Officer. I gave my word not to tell anything to anyone. All I can tell you is that he is a Mongolian Border Guard.

T. Tsegmid

07/09/2010

The Postage Box

Tsendpurev Tsegmid — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:22:27 +0000

The Postage Box

I have many boxes: small, medium and big sizes of varying colours. Out of all those boxes I keep, this is the one I treasure. An ordinary but tired looking postage box. Decorated by ‘fine” stickers of shipping companies of both Mongolia and the UK. Initially, I used this postage box to send gifts to my family in Mongolia. I can’t remember the exact date but it must’ve been before 2007. I didn’t know, however, my parents kept the box for another use. To my surprise, they re-used it to send some stuff back to me. The exact same box…The box has travelled thousands of miles.

The postage box explained:

From Bayarsanaa Sodnom (my mum) to Tsendpurev Tsegmid (me).

Contains: books, a cashmere top (Gobi is a name of the Mongolian Corporation produces range of clothing made from 100 % cashmere) and souvenirs.

Posted on 5th November 2007 from Mongolia.

Left Mongolia for UK on 6th November (My birthdate) 2007.

Parcel Force is a name of the British company specialises in domestic and international shipping of parcels.

Arrived in the UK on 27th November 2007.

Important words printed or written on the box: MN, Mongolia, Leeds, Postal Parcel, Dispatch Note/Customer Declaration, By Air, Parcel Force Worlwide, 48, LS11, Баярсанаа (my mum’s name in Mongolian Cyrillic).