Ancient art given new life

Sukhbaatar is drawing traditional Mongolic painting.

Bainbolg, a 33-year-old Chinese painter of the Mongolian ethnic group, agrees. After running an independent studio in Hohhot for several years and becoming fed up with art museums' rigid standards, he joined the center earlier this year. He relishes the opportunity to work with artists from abroad.

"Many domestic painters think too much about how to take part in art exhibitions and leave little time to reflect and draw something from the bottom of their heart, but I find the painters from Mongolia are the opposite," he says.

"I now place little restriction on ways to express myself through art and I freely convey my understanding of our traditions. That is the essence of arts, which is especially precious in this quick-fix society."

The artists also refer to the surrealist tradition to illustrate the Mongol people's totems. Bainbolg says they will use any form that reflects their spirits and beliefs.

Zhang plans to organize an exhibition of modern pieces of Yinshan cliff paintings in Bayannur in June, and is even considering touring the country.

Lhkagvadorj Sukhbaatar from Mongolia is a member of a national association of traditional Mongolic painting, which involves 250 top-level painters in that country. He is attracted to the atmosphere in Zhang's place and is looking for more inspiration in Inner Mongolia.

According to Sukhbaatar, his paintings using mineral dye on cloth have some similarities with thangka in Tibet, but also bear unique characteristics in images and styles. A painting will usually take half a year to finish.

Sukhbaatar says an arts academy in Mongolia produces 12 painters every year who can practice this kind of traditional painting, but it is not enough to keep the skill alive because fewer young people are interested in learning.

He therefore hopes to combine the efforts of China, Mongolia, and Russia to draw more international attention to better protect this traditional art, a campaign he is launching from Hohhot.

"Who knows what will happen? Though my energy is limited and I am devoted to my own work, maybe I can also have some Chinese students one day," he says.

The project has gotten off to a good start, and Zhang feels confident his ambition to gain international interest in the work will be a success.