Interview: O.Odgerel “Mongolian nomadic culture and traditions are presented to the public”

-Rio Tinto is one of the key sponsors of Naadam events –

Director of the Development Programme of the Arts Council of Mongolia Ms.O.Odgerel gave us an interview about her role in organising the 'Culture Naadam' event during the national holiday of Naadam.

For how many years has the 'Culture Naadam' event been running? Why has this event become a tradition?
'Culture Naadam' began in 2008. METAA, Korea's representative cultural strategy and arts management consulting company, initially filed their proposal to organise a festival exhibiting nomad art and culture, to the University of Culture and Arts and the Arts Council of Mongolia. Their proposal was consistent with our mission to maintain sustainable development of arts and culture, and support and conserve cultural heritage. Mongolia is the homeland of the nomads. As an international group, we jointly organised this festival to promote Mongolian arts and culture to foreigners and local people.

What is the feature of the 'Culture Naadam' event this year?
This year is the 10^th anniversary of the Arts Council of Mongolia and the 5^th anniversary of 'Culture Naadam'. We aim to enrich the Naadam games with cultural and artistic performances and provide people with the opportunity to spend good quality time at Khui Doloon Khudag, the site for the Naadam Festival horse racing. Naadam is a nationwide event for nomads which cannot be limited to wrestling, horse racing and archery. 'Culture Naadam' has been organised to show other facets of the nomad culture. The festival activities include three events: 'One day of Mongolia' – annual entertainment and souvenir sales tour. The event presents felt art, calligraphy, archery, brain teasing toys made to modern styles. We have family oriented programmes including joint Mongolian and Korean concerts, performed twice or three times a day. The latter part of 'Culture Naadam' is prepared by the University of Culture and Arts and shows innovative, unique performances entirely free of charge to the public. The third event of the Naadam is a film showing made jointly by Korean and Mongolian producers in the South Gobi.

You need financial support to organise such large events. Can you tell us about the sponsors of Culture Naadam?
Rio Tinto mining company is one of the main sponsors of 'Culture Naadam'. We presented our proposal to this company and they generously agreed to support and sponsor the Naadam organization. It is very good that the mining industry is empowering the cultural sector in this period of growth in the Mongolian economy. Our country is well-presented to the international world with the promotion of our own culture. Expanding relationships between businesses and the arts and creating mutual cooperation is a reality in Mongolia now. In the last 10 years, the Arts Council of Mongolia has become organised and settled in terms of human resource development, governance, and financial capacity. We can now can function on both a local and international level.