Nomadic arts residency programme links Mongolia and Korea

The “Time & Space” Nomadic Arts Residency Program is a collaborative project which provides opportunities for Korean and Mongolian artists to work together in the Mongolian countryside. It started in 2008, developed by the Arts Council of Mongolia and the Arts Council of Korea.

In 2011 the art work theme was humanity and nature, death, life, time and space. Twelve participants from Korea and Mongolia travelled to the South Gobi and worked for nine days on the creation of their own art pieces as well as community or collaborative projects. At the end of stay, these artists presented an exhibition at the center of South Gobi, Dalanzadgad city.

The final presentation of the artists was held in September at Xanadu Art Gallery. This year’s highlights were the collaborative works of Korean and Mongolian artists, for example, Korean jazz singer Sunny Kim, photographer Senghyen Son, and designer B.Dulguun who jointly created ‘Endless,’ the life circle that connects the costuming, steppe noise and geography through photography, jazz songs, multiple noises and fashion. Korean artists will exhibit these same artworks in January 2012, in Seoul.

The Arts Council of Mongolia (ACM) started this project in 2008 and created an annual event, so each year Arts Council Korea (ARKO) and ACM announce a Nomadic Arts Residency Program among artists from a range of disciplines: visual art (fine arts, land art, installation and media), video and music, photography and performing arts. The goal of the Nomadic Arts Residency is to promote cultural and creative exchange between Korean and Mongolian artists and to increase the use of the arts in facilitating positive social change. This year six Korean and artist six Mongolian artists were selected by the ARKO and ACM Selection Committees.

Funded by the Arts Council of Korea, the program works to promote cultural and creative exchange between Korean and Mongolian artists and to increase the use of the arts in facilitating positive social changes.

"I was afraid that communicating with the artists from Korea would be hard, but when you spend some time together, even a very short time, it really doesn’t matter - you become a friend and a colleague and you talk and talk..." – Mongolian artist B.Chinbat