Dashdorjiin Natsagdorj

poet, writer, and playwright

He is considered one of the founding fathers of modern Mongolian literature and Mongolia's first "classic Socialist" writer.

Byambasuren Davaa

film maker

Between 1995 and 1998 she studied at the Movie Academy in Ulaanbaatar. In 1998 she began to work as a moderator and director's assistant with Mongolian National Television. In 2000 she moved to Munich, Germany, to study documentary film and communication sciences at the University of Television and Film Munich.

Her films through 2006 tell stories embedded in the traditional life of the nomads in Mongolia. The subjects of her movies also serve as amateur actors, playing mostly themselves, which positions her work somewhere between documentary and fiction. Her latest film Two Horses of Genghis Khan featuring the singer Urna's quest to find the origins of a song is due for release in Germany in 2010.

She was a 2005 Academy Award nominee for her film The Story of the Weeping Camel.

Photo by: Christophe DELORME by CC BY-SA 4.0

Otgonbayar Ershuu

painter

During the years 1998 and 2004, Otgonbayar traveled to Mongolia's historic sites and took part in numerous cultural and social projects. During his academic studies he created around 400 pictures. After his studies he participated in several expeditions to historical sites in Mongolia as a painter and conservator. Otgonbayar studied the different techniques and iconography of the miniature paintings as well as their spiritual backgrounds at the Buddhist-lamaist monasteries. He has been active as a freelance artist since 1998. In addition to his free artistic works he has created around 600 "research images." Ershuu has been living in Berlin since 2005. From 2007 to 2010 he studied at the Institute for Art in Context, Faculty of Fine Arts, Berlin University of the Arts and graduated with a Masters of Arts in 2010.[5] Otgonbayar Ershuu has been exhibiting his work in international exhibitions in Japan, Sweden, France, the Netherlands, India, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Poland, Romania, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Moldova and Mongolia.

Photo from source

Biyelgee

Mongolian bowl dancing

Biyelgee dances embody and originate from the nomadic way of life and are performed while half sitting or cross-legged. Hand, shoulder and leg movements express aspects of Mongol herders everyday lifestyle such as milking the cow, cooking, hunting, household labor, customs and traditions, etc. as well as spiritual characteristics tied to different ethnic groups. Originally, Mongolian dance developed very early is evidenced by a reference in The Secret History of the Mongols were wont to rejoice, dancing and feasting ... they danced until there was dust up to their knees ...

Photo from Asia News Network.

Hooliin Chor

Mongolian throat singing

Is one particular variant of overtone singing practiced by people in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Tuva and Siberia. In 2009, it was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO, under the name Mongolian art of singing, Khoomei.

Nadaam festival

traditional festival

The festival is also locally termed "eriin gurvan naadam" (эрийн гурван наадам) "the three games of men". The games are Mongolian wrestling, horse racing, and archery, and are held throughout the country during midsummer. Women have started participating in the archery and girls in the horse-racing games, but not in Mongolian wrestling.

Morin khuur

traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument

It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified by UNESCO.

Urtiin Duu

central elements of the traditional music of Mongolia

Certain long songs such as Uvgin shuvuu khoyor, also known as Jargaltain delger (lit. 'Old man and the Bird') has a length of up to 3 hours if to sing in full length with complete 32 stanzas. Lyrical themes vary depending on context; they can be philosophical, religious, romantic, or celebratory, and often use horses as a symbol or theme repeated throughout the song. Eastern Mongols typically use a Morin khuur (horse-head fiddle) as accompaniment, sometimes with a type of indigenous flute, called limbe. Oirat groups of the Western Mongols traditionally sing long songs unaccompanied or accompanied with the Igil.

 

Photo is from Unesco