The Venue gallery holds reception for Mongolian artist of the year, Soyolmaa

The Venue Fine Art & Gifts rang in the New Year on Friday. No, they’re not two months late – they’re just ringing in a different New Year. It’s Mongolia’s year of the ox.

Mongolia’s artist of the year, Soyolmaa (pronounced Soush-ma), is kicking off her lecture and gallery tour of the United States with a two-week stay in Bloomington, which will involve exhibitions in the city.

“She is very well-established in her own community, so they are supporting her and sending her on this trip,” said Venue’s owner Gabriel Colman.

Soyolmaa’s art series, titled “Urban Mystic,” involves a wide survey of Mongolian culture featuring contemporary art styles depicting day-to-day life, religious imagery and social upheaval. Also featured were traditional Buddhist banners called thonka.

“I particularly love the modern pictures that incorporate some of the, you know, the traditional or Buddhist tradition into the very modern pictures,” Kasha Johnston, a visitor, said.

One of the thonka was behind another guest. An incarnation of the Buddha sat with legs folded on a cushion. His head was on fire and his hands and fingers were held in ornate positions. Multi-colored clouds floated across the sky, and flowers sprang up around him. This is the type of traditional art that Soyolmaa has blended with modern painting to create her style.

“I particularly like some of the abstracts, like the dark blue,” said Bloomington resident Tim Niggle, referring to a picture in which a bright red Buddha figure floated against a blue-black night sky, looking down over yogis. “But the traditional is interesting, too.”
Soyolmaa is supported in Bloomington by The Mongolia Society.

According to its Web site, “The Mongolia Society was founded in 1961 as a private, nonprofit, non-political organization interested in promoting the study of Mongolia, its history, language, and culture. The aims of the Society are exclusively scholarly, educational, and charitable.”

Soyolmaa is also being supported by the IU Mongolian Student Association. This gallery showing and celebration was its first public event since its founding last spring.

The celebration itself kicked off at 6 p.m. and featured traditional Mongolian food: meat dumplings, barbecue and Mongolian tea, a tea mixed with milk, butter and a bit of salt.

The Mongolian Society’s Executive Director Susan Drost also provided Lebanese cuisine.

Afterward, the  crowd was treated to traditional Mongolian music and dance. The music included an instrument called a morin khuur, a violin-like instrument with two strings, played with a bow. Several of the event’s attendees wore deels – a type of Mongolian formal dress consisting of a long silk garment worn with a large belt, not entirely dissimilar to a traditional Chinese cheongsam.

Soyolmaa will be in Bloomington with her art on display until March 8.

Her art is available for viewing and purchase at The Venue Fine Art and Gifts at 114 S. Grant St.