Ulaanbaatar Biennale is excited to announce the participating artists and programs for On the horizon, under the moon / Сарны дор, тэнгэрийн хаяанд, presented across various venues in Mongolia’s capital from 6 to 20 June, 2025. Ulaanbaatar Biennale is a new biennale initiated by the City Mayor in cooperation with the Arts and Culture Department of the City Implementing Agency and the Arts Council of Mongolia.
Led by Chief Curator Tian Zhang, On the horizon, under the moon explores the poetics and politics of land and homelands. The Biennale invites local and international artists to engage in global conversations about place, land and home.
Says Zhang, “In curating this Biennale, I wanted to prioritise voices and perspectives less heard. I also aimed to bring together artists whose work and practices are critical, hopeful and impactful in relation to the topic of lands and
Almagul Menlibayeva, Bat-Orgil Battulga, Biligt Enkhtaivan, Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC), Cian Dayrit, Fitriani Dwi Kurniasih (Fitri DK), Gerelkhuu Ganbold, Harvest School, Ireedui homelands. While works grapple with issues of land rights, environmental degradation and cultural loss; they also celebrate resistance, honour ancestral practices and offer solutions for thriving futures.”
The main exhibition features 19 international and 6 Mongolian artists who will present their artworks at the Mongolian National Art Gallery and surrounds:
Bulgantamir, Jane Jin Kaisen, Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar, Javkhlan Ariunbold, Jazz Money, Leeroy New, Liu Chuang, Luke Willis Thompson, Natalia Papaeva, Nomin Zezegmaa, Raven Chacon, Serwah Attafuah, Solmaz Daryani, Subas Tamang, Tsagaantsooj Erdenechimeg, Vivien Sansour, and Yakthung Cho Sangjumbho.
Highlights include:
- Collective practices of reclamation and resistance are explored in works by arts collectives: Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC), a collective focused on regenerating a former plantation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Harvest School, an initiative working through ecological breakdown, loss of rural commons and caste conflicts in villages in Buxar, Bihar in eastern India; and Yakthung Cho Sangjumbho, an indigenous arts collective supporting indigenous struggles in present-day eastern Nepal. For Harvest School and Yakthung Cho Sangjumbho, this will be their first international exhibition.
- The exhibition will feature artworks by global indigenous artists, including a poetic video work by artist, poet and film-maker Jazz Money (Wiradjuri/Australia), photographic and sound works by artist and composer Raven Chacon (Navajo/USA), and works by printmaker Subas Tamang about the resilience and knowledge systems of Tamang communities (Tamang/Nepal).
Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar, who has previously represented Mongolia in the Venice Biennale, will exhibit a new mixed-media installation.
- Western Sydney-based artist Serwah Attafuah will present a digital installation of Afrofuturistic figures inspired by historical and mythical beings.
- Beyond the gallery in Sukhbaatar Square, Manila-based artist Leeroy New whose works often reference Philippine futurism will utilize surplus and discarded materials to reimagine the ger (Mongolian traditional house) as a futuristic dwelling.
- Javkhlan Ariunbold, who lives and works between Cologne and Ulaanbaatar, will translate traditional thangka painting into a large-scale outdoor mural responding to Ulaanbaatar’s escalating water crises.
PROGRAMS
Alongside the main exhibition, partner exhibitions include: Close to the Moon, a Mongolian-Korean pavilion organized by Blue Sun Contemporary Art Center at the Museum of Natural History; Technostalgia: Peripheral Memory, an exhibition of Taiwanese artists curated by Tammy Yu-Ting Hsieh at Ancore Center; and an exhibition by Korean artist Lee Nam at Chingis Khan Museum.
Open Space: a symposium and a gathering will include conversations, workshops and performances featuring local and international participating artists and special guests, occurring from 9 to 10 June at the Mongolian National Art Gallery as part of the Biennale main exhibition.
An arts and crafts village will be installed in Sukhbaatar Square, with traditional folk art and culture performances featured from 13 to 15 June. Film screenings, poetry, dance and music performances will also be staged.
Another highlight of the biennale is the Kids Museum program, which will be presented at the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts, Chingis Khan Museum, National Art Gallery, Museum of Natural History and 6 districts of the Ulaanbaatar city reaching more than 2000 children with creative programs inviting biennale artists.
Side exhibitions will be presented at more than 7 venues across the city, including: Rainbow Bridge Mongolian-Korean artists exhibition at the Mongol Art Gallery, Suren Hash exhibition at Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts, Batchimeg B. exhibition at Oir Art Hub, Javkhlan Ariunbold at Lkham Gallery, a Tuurgatan exhibition at XO Space, and Metamorphosis- The Living Rhythm of Design at A Space.
For more information about Ulaanbaatar Biennale and to read the curatorial statement, go to: https://artscouncil.mn/art_program_mon/ulaanbaatar-biennale/
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Gerelchimeg G.
ACM marketing & communication coordinator
marketing@artscouncil.mn
976-89365898
