Buddhist Revelations in Davaakhuugin Soyolmaa’s Contemporary Mongolian Art

Abstract

In 1990, a seven-decade socialist taboo on religion was lifted in newly transforming Mongolia, where democratic reforms and a peaceful transition to a market economy and multiparty government system were taking place. The country entered into a critical period of transition in 1992, when revisions to the constitution changed the Mongolian People’s Republic into the Republic of Mongolia. While political studies of this transitional period have been conducted, along with studies of the economic boost of 2008, very little has been written about Mongolian art since 1990. This essay explores that relatively untrodden ground by focusing on contemporary artist Davaakhuugin Soyolmaa (b. 1977) (figure 1), whose work exemplifies the revival of Buddhist art and culture in contemporary Mongolia.