Oldal 345 [345]
OCR
CREATING MONGOL DSURAG AND RE-CREATING BUDDHIST ART TRADITION IN MONGOLIA The access to Buddhist art differs among believers from cheap copies, mainly made in China, to high-guality masterpieces depending on their affordability, artistic feeling, taste, and individual attitudes. Generally, Buddhist art productions or forms of deities (shiiteen) are divided into three forms. First is the imagery deity / divinity (lagshin shiiteen) which includes thangka paintings and sculptures. The second one called textual divinity (dsarligiin shiiteen) includes sitras and sacred texts. The third is grace divinity (taalliin shiiteen) represented by stiipas. According to D. Ukhaandsaya, believers could choose different art productions due to their possibilities: “The condition of buying these three types of deities are relatively different. Those who can afford to buy old masterpieces with consecration [janlawtai]. They are quite expensive. Those who are able can also have deities made by professional artists. Those who cannot afford buy copies with low quality and bad iconography [tig muutai] from China. Believers and temples can ask professional artists to make clay figures. Depending on the knowledge of the “art of creating’ [urlakhui ukhaan], people have different attitudes.” (D. Ukhaandsaya, Interview, Ulaanbaatar, July 2015) However, it contradicts with the belief that spiritual power or religious efficacy would not exist in incorrectly and distastefully depicted deities. D. Tulga and D. Ukhaandsaya as former students of Lama G. Pürewbat followed their teacher’s style of Buddhist painting with individual nuances. Artists of Mongol Dsurag such as Khosbayar Narankhiiii (Fig. 1-2.) and Magsariin Chinbat use the traditionally techniques of thankga painting, which with time had been formed into a “national” form of painting style, adding their personal specific style. M. Chinbat, studied Mongol Dsurag at the former Institute for Fine Arts at the Mongolian National University of Arts and Culture (the present Fine Art Academy) from 1997 to 2002 and taught Mongol Dsurag for 14 years. He also works as the head of the Mongol Dsurag Society. Lately Mongolian artists who take their inspiration of both Buddhist thangka painting and Mongol Dsurag which they “modernise” for their work by adding current topics such as globalisation, cultural identity, gender and environmental issues or capitalism became internationally known. Boldiin Nomin (or Nomin Bold) is a young artist, who is successful in her way of representing modern themes with traditional painting techniques. The main topic that she deals with is the internal conflicts with her own identity as a woman. She mainly uses Buddhist imageries as well as female representations in her artworks. Her works are rich of detailed references and symbols. Nomin describes how she uses images of Buddhist deities in her work: “T use them as symbols. Each deity has a meaning, a story or legend. For example, there is a deity benevolent for children. I use these symbolic meanings. I do not use them in a religious sense.” (B. Nomin, Interview, Ulaanbaatar, 19 September, 2019) 343
