While exploring the area around Deren soum, the participant of Nomad Spirit 2024 International Program French artist elparo found old iron tanker used for containing oil. Fascinated with its rustic look, monumental shape, and its relationship with the landscape, artist created site-specific wooden installation on the exterior of the old iron tanker, a reminiscent of a plant growing around it. The work highlights the beauty of this old tanker which could seem lifeless for many.
elparo spent most of his life on the road meeting new cultures, considering himself as a world student, believing that others have much more to teach him. He developed many projects together with local communities and artists, shared common experiences and an adventure. He created installations in very diverse conditions, in the middle of nature, where respect is required, in the middle of the city, where human and architectural interaction is predominant, or in places without resources, such as in Lebanon where the raw material is far too precious to use it other than for building and heating. Challenges and need for adaptation make me feel alive, artist says. elparo’s large-scale site-specific installations have been created in many countries worldwide, including France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Japan, Spain, South Africa, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Canada, England, and New Zealand.
Funded by EUNIC, the Nomad Spirit – International Program was initiated by EUNIC Mongolia and its implementing members, the Alliance Française Oulan-Bator, the Austrian Embassy in Beijing, the Finnish Embassy in Beijing, and the Goethe-Institut Mongolia with the support of the EU Delegation to Mongolia with aim to raise public awareness of climate change through contemporary artistic practices, the program brought together over 260 participants, including 8 artists from 5 different countries, as well as local schoolchildren, residents, administrators, and visitors from Ulaanbaatar. The program was implemented by the Mongolian Contemporary Art Support Association and its affiliate Nomadic Red Corner International Residency and Deren Soum administration and secondary school.
*EUNIC — European Union National Institutes for Culture — is Europe’s network of national cultural institutes and organisations, with 39 members from all EU member states and associated countries. EUNIC Mongolia aims to develop strong and sustainable ties between cultural stakeholders in the European Union and Mongolia by engaging in activities that are driven by the global challenges we have to respond to together.
