Mongolian woodcraft exhibition taking place

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ "Mongolian Art - Wood Crafting" an exhibition on Mongolian wood crafting is taking place at 'The Fine Arts Zanabazar Museum' between February 22 and March 22. During the opening ceremony held today, general issues on the preservation of museum objects and exhibits were discussed among the experts and public. According to Kh.Tserenbyamba, a researcher at 'The Fine Arts Zanabazar Museum', the museum holds over 3 thousand exhibits and only the selected hundred Mongolian wooden arts are being displayed on the exhibition. The exhibit consists of household instruments, Khurgan (lamb) ger and religious items of between 17th and 20th centuries and the highlights of the exhibition are the Chariot for the Maitreya Procession, gold-coated wooden saddle and Khurgan ger. The Chariot for the Maitreya Procession was originally destroyed in the 1940's and was reconstructed by the students of the Art Institute of Amsterdam in 2000. The chariot represents the arrival of Maitreya, the future buddha and is considered the beacon of hope in the buddhist tradition. As for the wooden saddle, the item was created in the 17th century and was used by High Saint Zanabazar himself. The saddle has golden plate dragons where the High Saint's herd seal is visible on top of the dragon. The Chariot for the Maitreya Procession Preservation of museum object is relatively poor in Mongolia. Especially, the wooden objects decay or even break in an ever-changing environments. Most objects respond to the moisture in the atmosphere, so the longevity of museum objects depend heavily on the temperature and moisture of the hall. Due to the extreme climate and facility structure, preservation of museum objects is becoming an issue. Therefore, the 'Mongolian Cultural Heritage of Woodcraft' discussion was held in order to help create the guidelines of temperature separation of the facility and other ways to preserve museum objects at affordable cost.