Enchanting Urga
113 years ago, a trade representative came to Urga (currently Ulaanbaatar) from distant Norway on a business trip. But he did not expect that this trip would change his future life and make him a traveler, researcher, and photographer who will be noted in history. His name is Oscar Mamen (1885-1955). Over 100 years ago, Oscar Mamen cared for and kept 8000 photos and 500 objects that tell the history of Mongolia and told them to his children and grandchildren like fairytales and legends.
These historical pictures, facts, and notes left by him contain important things such as current events and beliefs of that time, and in 2017, they became public and began to be researched. Due to this valuable opportunity, we are ready to present our joint exhibition today by contacting Maria Kartveit, a researcher at the University of Oslo, and proposing an exhibition in 2023. As part of the exhibition, Oscar Mamen's grandchildren, who grew up listening to stories about Mongolia, are visiting Mongolia for the first time, which is a special event.
Artist Otgonbat Natsagdorj has been creating his works using various media, and has presented his works based on historical photographs in his independent exhibitions such as "Connection" and "Sedimentary". But this time, he is officially creating a new artwork in collaboration with Oscar Mamen's photographs. The exhibition will showcase mixed media paintings, drawings, and photo installations that will challenge our existing stereotypes about historical images. The curator of the “ENCHANTING URGA" exhibition is Bolormaa Algaa, an art researcher and doctoral student who studied and lived in Norway for 10 years.
This exhibition aims to highlight the life of Urga and how Oscar Mamen's journey let him meet the people who captured his heart, about friendship, revival, dreams, and blessings.
Moments of the Enchanting Urga
collaborative exhibition
