On the horizon, under the moon / сарны дор тэнгэрийн хаяанд
Ulaanbaatar Biennale 2025
Ulaanbaatar Biennale looks beyond the horizon, inviting local and international artists to contemplate place, land and home. Inspired by a Mongolian poem and the vast landscape of the country, On the horizon, under the moon turns towards the meeting point of the sky and the earth, the blue border of dreams. The title evokes the coalescence of many perspectives for this Biennale: while we may see different horizons, we share the same moon.
On the horizon, under the moon explores the poetics and politics of land and homelands. The exhibition makes space for ancestral and intimate connections to place; platforms land rights struggles and indigenous movements; and speaks to cultural displacement and diasporic loss. It also makes visible the forces that act upon the land – destructive, generative and regenerative. In a world impacted by colonialism and capitalism, we ask: What does resistance look like? What can be recovered on the precipice of loss? What can be restored or renewed? What can we see at the edge of the sky, lit by the glow of the moon — and how might we get there?
Chief Curator: Tian Zhang
Participating artists, main exhibition:
Almagul Menlibayeva, Bat-Orgil Battulga, Biligt Enkhtaivan, Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC), Cian Dayrit, Fitriani Dwi Kurniasih (Fitri DK), Gerelkhuu Ganbold, Harvest School, Ireedui Bulgantamir, Jane Jin Kaisen, Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar, Javkhlan Ariunbold, Jazz Money, Leeroy New, Liu Chuang, Luke Willis Thompson, Natalia Papaeva, Nomin Zezegmaa, Raven Chacon, Serwah Attafuah, Solmaz Daryani, Subas Tamang, Tsagaantsooj Erdenechimeg, Vivien Sansour, and Yakthung Cho Sangjumbho.
Partner exhibitions:
Close to the Moon organized by Blue Sun Contemporary Art Center, Museum of Natural History; Technostalgia: Peripheral Memory curated by Tammy Yu-Ting Hsieh, Ancore Center; The Archaeology of Radiant Light by Lee Lee Nam, Chingis Khan Museum
Side exhibitions:
Rainbow Bridge at Mongol Art Gallery; Made by Memory, Suren Hash at Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts; Transformation at Oir Art Hub; Javkhlan Ariunbold at Lkham Gallery; Tuurgatan at XO Space; Metamorphosis at A Space; Witness of Memory at Red Ger.
Initiator: Capital City Governor’s Office
Organizers: Arts and Culture Department of the City Implementing Agency, Capital City Governor’s Office; Arts Council of Mongolia
Co-organizers: Culture and Arts Authority, implementing Agency of Government of Mongolia; Blue Sun Contemporary Art Center; Marketainment Mongolia LLC
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. Proudly funded by NSW Government.
Photos by Sanjaanorov Gantumur.