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Natur Dance Company was the winner of the modern dance competition held at the Opera and Ballet Theater opening night, she noted that modern dance seems to connect well with Mongolian audiences because it allows performers to set themselves apart from countries like Australia, Germany, the United States, etc. and draw on Mongolian traditions to add new emotional connections. Modern dance also allows audiences to connect to current issues in a new and dynamic way. The theme of Duruu reflects Mongolias contemporary environmental struggles. Munguntsetseg emphasized the importance of reflecting on our role in protecting the environment when Mongolia is challenged by desertification, global climate change and the impact of large-scale mining. As echoed by the performance, she ended the interview with these words of wisdom: When the environment is healthy, relationships between people are good. When the environment is poor, our relationships with one another become poor as well. A beautifully performed but solemn message for the audience to consider.
Mongolian children learning how to re-cycle trash into creative objects By Teresa Nichols One of the Arts Council of Mongolias most exciting new initiatives is the Trash is not Trash program, run in partnership with the Childrens Creativity Center of Mongolia and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Ulaanbaatar is increasingly confronted by the challenges of urbanization and the high quantity of trash produced, and for positive, sustainable change of these conditions it is important to educate the youngest members of Mongolian society. The Trash is not Trash program aims to connect environmental awareness education with opportunities for creative and artistic expression to contribute to the development of Mongolias young people. Inspired by up-cycling, the program encourages students to take materials that are considered useless and transform them into a new, better product that can be used again. Over 300 children from disadvantaged areas in Ulaanbaatars school system as well as the Childrens Creativity Center are currently participating in this program. Children are organized into groups based on their schedules and supervised by artist-teachers, who show them the up-cycling process and discuss the importance of re-using materials, teach them necessary skills, and help inspire the childrens creativity. The teaching staff is a combination of professional artists and art teachers, and the program provides them with an opportunity to expand their teaching methodologies as well. Art classes in the traditional school system often divide classes by grade and by gender, so the program provides an opportunity for all ages and all genders to explore new forms of art, learn about arts connection to environmental and social issues, and gain new skills. Children are encouraged to take their individual pieces home and either use it themselves or give it as a present. Some projects, however, are a group effort. One of the art projects was to create a new trash can for the city streets out of up-cycled materials. The new trash can is composed of cardboard tubes arranged in a circle, tied together with wire, and with a cardboardreinforced base. Each child painted one of the cardboard tubes, giving them a sense of ownership in the overall design of the trash can. The effect is vibrantly colorful while still being very practical. At the end of the program, a public exhibition will be held to display the diversity of work of the students. A television program about the project is also being planned. This public recognition of the project will raise public awareness of positive, creative, and sustainable methods to re-use materials and of the impact arts and arts education can have in confronting environmental and social concerns.
Arts Council of Mongolia, Delta Foundation Center, IV floor, Tourists Street-38, Chingeltei District Tel/Fax: 976-11-319015 E-mail: education@artscouncil.mn Web: www.artscouncil.mn
The Mongol Messenger is operated by the government news agency MONTSAME and is printed by the MONTSAME. Home Page: www.mongolmessenger.mn;E-mail: monmessenger@magicnet.mn (ISSN 1684-1883)