Tragedy at the Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery
Political protests which turned violent in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on July 1st claimed an accidental victim: the Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery.
Last Monday protestors gathered outside the Communist Party headquarters – adjacent to Ulaanbaatar’s Cultural Palace, housing the Modern Art Gallery, National Philharmonic, Theatre Museum, and dozens of NGOs and small businesses – to voice their concern over allegations of widespread vote buying and electoral rigging during the previous weekend’s national election.
During the afternoon, protestors threw stones, pulled down fences, smashed windows and attacked security guards and police. In the early evening, protestors looted a duty free store, set fire to the building, viciously attacked police, and attached both ambulances and fire engines sent to the scene. As chaos reigned, and the outnumbered police retreated inside the courtyard of the Cultural Palace, the gallery too came under attack.
The wing housing the gallery’s oldest works, including socialist and revolutionary era masterpieces, delicate sculptural works and Buddhist style silk appliqué murals was set alight. Protestors, many intoxicated, smashed all the ground floor windows and entered the gallery, damaging works and taking or destroying office equipment. Above the gallery almost every business in the twelve floor office building was also looted. The Gallery’s storage area, on the ground floor nearest the riot, was burned, with severe damage to all electricals and lighting throughout the gallery, and smoke and heat damage to over 900 paintings and 250 sculptures in storage. The ceilings and doors of most security areas were burnt, but amazingly many of the works, although damaged, escaped the flames. The UB Post reports that around 4,000 works in total were destroyed. From 11.30pm, Gallery Director, Ms. D. Enkhtsetseg worked with the lone security guard and three volunteer art students, amongst smoke and flames, to rescue and hide as many works as possible. Enkhtsetseg said that the rioters were drunk – they weren’t looking for art work, but computers and office equipment.
Last year, the gallery requested additional funding from the Mongolian government to purchase fire extinguishers, insurance and install a security system – but the request was denied. Smoke, soot and heat damage are extensive both to the building and hundreds of art works, and the gallery team are working swiftly on the clean up process, and hope to secure foreign assistance with restoration and rebuilding efforts.
The Mongolian government has pledged $US200,000 to assist the three main institutions housed within the cultural palace; the Modern Art Gallery, Philharmonic, and Morin Huur Horsefiddle Orchestra, however the structural damage to the burnt gallery wing alone is estimated at $US200,000 – so additional fundraising and conservation assistance is urgently sought by the gallery.
The Gallery, after international media interest and many calls of support from across Europe and Asia, has opened a crisis account – where donations can be made in $US:
Account name: Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery
Golomt Bank – account number1103026195/Us dollar/
Partner bank in Australia: HSBC
Khaan Bank – account number 5003414366/US dollar/
Partner bank in Australia: Commonwealth Bank
Donations will be used to rebuild and refit the damaged wing, replace and update the damaged storage area, and restore damaged art works. Organisations who are able to conduct restoration workshops for local volunteers, or offer restoration and conservation expertise are also badly needed, and an interested groups are asked to contact the gallery director directly, on caravan_56@yahoo.com
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Also the Union of Mongolian Architects Office, which located in south part of the Cultural Palace, was burned.